I CANNOT believe that ministers are working on a secret plan to keep tens of thousand of Bugarians and Romanians from arriving in the UK next year.

Their secret weapon is, wait for it, an advertising campaign to warn them that Britain is cold and wet, and may not be as generous with welfare benefits as some expect.

Do they seriously believe this will deter arrivals from countries well used to extreme weather, where the minimum wage is less than 80p an hour, compared with our £6.19?

Indeed, could there be a more desperate sign of our impotence to control our borders under EU rules?

The truth is that nothing short of strict quotas – almost certain to be ruled illegal by the European Court – can hope to prevent an influx that threatens to mock the Coalition’s pledge to slash net immigration to tens of thousands.

Colin Henson, Ullswater, Woodthorpe, York.