Reform UK benefits ban for foreign nationals would include EU citizens
The move would require renegotiating the UK's Brexit deal and could risk stripping British expats living in the EU of similar rights.
Reform UK has announced a proposal to exclude foreign nationals, including EU citizens with settled status, from most benefits, a move that would necessitate renegotiating the UK's Brexit agreement with the EU. This could potentially lead to British expatriates in the EU losing similar rights.
Robert Jenrick, Reform's shadow chancellor, is set to formally unveil the party's welfare plans in a speech on Monday. He stated that "Forcing British workers to pay for the benefits of foreigners is not just economically illiterate but plain immoral," adding that while people support their neighbors, "the British taxpayer cannot afford to subsidise everyone on the planet, especially those who have not paid in."
Reform claims this policy would save £21 billion annually by its fifth year. However, Labour contends that the "vast majority" of migrants do not access benefits, and the Conservatives have dismissed the plans as "cobbled together."
The proposed ban would encompass nearly all welfare payments, such as housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare, and disability benefits. Limited exemptions would apply, including the war widows pension and Armed Forces compensation. The party had previously committed to banning foreign nationals from claiming Universal Credit.
The government anticipates spending £322 billion on welfare in Great Britain this year, representing 10.6% of GDP, with over half allocated to pensioners. Reform asserts its 50-page plan, developed over six months, would achieve total annual savings of £50 billion. On Saturday, the party also indicated it would replace the disability payments system, Pip, if elected.
Given that the proposal affects EU nationals with settled status—who possess an indefinite right to live, work, and study in the UK, typically after five continuous years of residency—renegotiating the Brexit deal secured by the previous Tory government would be required. Reform has factored in a potential £500 million cost for British expats returning from the EU to the UK to claim benefits if the EU retaliates.
Labour criticized Reform's plans, stating they would "plunge the UK back into years of Brexit renegotiations and strip support from potentially millions of people who have lawfully lived, worked and paid taxes in Britain for years, and in many cases decades."
Helen Whately, the Tories' shadow pensions secretary, emphasized that "British people want welfare spending under control, abuse stamped out and dignity for people who are seriously disabled," rather than disputes over Brexit. The Lib Dems suggested that addressing the NHS and social care was crucial for reducing Britain's benefits expenditure. The Greens called it "cowardly to take from the most defenceless when we should be taxing the super wealthy including those who are in the privileged position of accepting £5m donations," referencing the £5 million gift to Reform leader Nigel Farage, which is under investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog.