Foreign nationals would be stripped of their right to claim all benefits in the UK under a Reform government.
The party proposes that up to 4.5 million EU citizens granted settlement rights in the UK would be included in the ban, requiring Reform to renegotiate the Brexit deal with Brussels.Story by Charles Hymas
Ending the agreement would probably mean that British residents living in Europe, and entitled to claim benefits in their host country, would lose their reciprocal rights.
However, Reform estimated the proposal to end foreign nationals’ eligibility to claim almost all benefits – except pensions – would save about £21bn a year within five years.
The move, to be announced on Monday by Robert Jenrick, Reform’s treasury spokesman, is part of what the party claims is the biggest welfare shake-up in a generation by scrapping key benefits to save £50bn a year.
More than 1.3 million foreign nationals are now on Universal Credit (UC), up from 900,000 in 2022, and the number is projected to rise to 1.5 million by 2029, according to Reform forecasts.
Mr. Jenrick said: “Forcing British workers to pay for the benefits of foreigners is not just economically illiterate but plain immoral.
“People are more than happy to support their neighbours in hard times, but the British taxpayer cannot afford to subsidise everyone on the planet, especially those who have not paid in.”
Under Reform, only British citizens would be entitled to almost all benefits, including UC, housing benefit and taxpayer-funded free childcare. They would apply to both new and existing claimants.
Foreigners who made the UK their permanent home could access benefits only if they sought and were granted citizenship.
Reform has proposed to scrap indefinite leave to remain, the precursor to citizenship, and force long-term migrants onto five-year renewable work visas. It will set out its detailed plans on claiming citizenship in the coming months but has previously said migrants would have to wait at least seven years to qualify.
There would be only a limited number of exceptions to the benefits ban, enabling non-UK citizens to retain access to contributory state pensions, Armed Forces compensation and war widows’ pensions.
No child would lose their eligibility for free school meals. Foreign nationals would retain access to the NHS, subject to an increased immigration health surcharge, to ensure the taxpayer was not left out of pocket.
If only one spouse in a couple was British, only the adult citizen would remain eligible for welfare. However, their non-citizen spouse’s income and assets would continue to count against eligibility thresholds. A British-citizen child of non-citizen parents would retain their eligibility for child benefit.
Reform said it would renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal deal to disapply the reciprocal provision of benefits. It said it had allowed a £500m contingency fund for the possible costs of British citizens in the EU returning to the UK, if their benefit eligibility in those countries was withdrawn.
It said there were only 1.3 million British citizens in the EU and anticipated only 10 per cent returning, which meant the fund was unlikely to be exhausted.
In a speech, Mr Jenrick will warn that unless savings are made, the benefits bill will “bankrupt Britain and send taxes even higher”.
Forecasts suggest the welfare bill will rise from £333bn to £407bn by 2030, which Reform said could force taxes to increase by £54bn.
Mr Jenrick will denounce the welfare policies of the Tories and Labour, saying that the benefits bill rose by 11 per cent over inflation under the Conservatives and is expected to rise by 23 per cent in real terms under Labour by the end of parliament.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “Reform UK have spent months flip-flopping on the two-child cap and now they’ve rushed out a cobbled-together announcement which is already unravelling.
“Their proposals will drag Britain back into Brexit battles with no certainty of success.”
