Denmark pursues EU concessions to escape bill for migrant worker welfare

Kobenhavn

THE concessions granted to the UK by the powers in Brussels ahead of its shocking vote to leave the European Union may now be moot, but they haven't been forgotten in Denmark.

Amid the chaos that the so-called Brexit vote has unleashed on the British economy, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen is dead-set on forcing an escape from having to foot the welfare bill for EU workers, a key feature of the bloc's freedom of movement principle.

Just like former UK premier David Cameron, Mr Rasmussen is trying to placate his right-wing allies. The problem is that his push makes little economic sense and will provide a pay off that's close to zero in savings. Ever since the Brexit vote, the Liberal Party leader has been reminding his supporters about the need to crack down on "benefit tourism" - a term used by politicians to denounce an alleged practice whereby people from the EU's poorer member states move around the bloc in search of the best…