By Charles Hymas
Copyright yahoo
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK faces a showdown with the EU over “massive cuts” he has planned to welfare spending.
The Reform leader revealed plans on Monday to change the law so that only UK citizens will be eligible for welfare, not foreign nationals, which he claimed could save the taxpayer £230bn.
He pledged to abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – which entitles migrants to benefits – including for those who already have been granted the status. Some 430,000 non-EU citizens currently have ILR, according to Oxford University’s Migration Observatory.
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, clarified on Monday that the party was not scrapping European settled status, which grants the same rights as ILR for EU citizens to claim benefits.
Some 4.12 million EU citizens have successfully applied for settled status in the UK, of which 770,000 are currently claiming universal benefits, according to figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
It means migrants with EU settled status account for 9.7 per cent of Universal Credit claimants compared with just 2.7 per cent for non-EU migrants.
However, any legislation barring EU migrants from claiming benefits could breach the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which provided for reciprocal welfare payments for EU and British nationals living abroad. If Reform could not renegotiate the deal, it could mean fines and potential trade sanctions.
Asked whether the proposals included EU citizens with settled status, Mr Yusuf said: “The answer is no in terms of EU settled status but there is a caveat, there are a lot of EU nationals in this country who are drawing on Universal Credit.
“So you can expect Nigel’s government to open negotiations with the European Union specifically about the welfare aspect. But as Nigel has said the big issue we’re talking about here is the non-EU numbers.
“And by the way even if that 400,000 figure is correct, and we certainly don’t recognise that number… most of the people we’re talking about here don’t yet have ILR. That is the point.”
Mr Farage argued that the biggest cuts would be delivered by barring an anticipated 800,000 migrants gaining ILR in the next 15 years. They had been granted visas under Boris Johnson’s liberal immigration policy which saw net migration peak at 903,000 in the year to June 2023, largely fuelled by a surge in non-EU citizens.
The ‘Boris wave’
The Reform leader said: “In particular what we’re focusing on this morning is the ‘Boris wave’. The Boris wave, after his huge victory in 2019. And I think the millions that came in the years of his premiership, represents the greatest betrayal of democratic wishes certainly in anyone’s living memory.
“This is not what Brexit voters wanted, and it’s certainly not what any Conservative voter wanted from 2010 onwards.”
He added: “Far too many that have come don’t work, have never worked and never will work. The ability to bring dependents of all kinds, and when you realise that most that come are very low skilled, and on very low wages, you start to get a very very different picture. In fact, you start to get a massive benefits bill.”
The £230bn saving was originally calculated by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), based on its estimates of 800,000 migrants being granted ILR by 2040. It has, however, since said the figure should no longer be used because of changes in the official data underpinning it.
Mr Farage stood by his decision to quote the figure, saying he believed the savings would actually be “considerably larger”.
“It underestimates things, I suspect many more than 800,000 actually will apply for indefinite leave to remain, plus it’s quite tough to get all the figures,” he said.
Reform has proposed replacing ILR with a renewable five-year visa for those who meet certain criteria, designed to bring Britain in line with other countries such as the United Arab Emirates. Those who currently have settled status would be forced to reapply for the new visa.
Under the plans, there would be far higher salary thresholds and more stringent limits on bringing spouses and children to the UK. The current skilled worker visa requires people to earn £41,700 per year or the “going rate” for a particular job, whichever is higher. Under Reform’s plans, this is expected to rise to about £60,000, although the precise threshold will be set closer to the general election.
The visas will be contingent on not having accessed benefits or other public funds and there will be stricter rules around requiring migrants to demonstrate “good character”. This will include ruling out people who commit financial misconduct, tax evasion and other criminal convictions.
Mr Farage said Reform’s proposals would help wages go up and mean more Britons ended up in skilled jobs. “I do repeat the point that mass, unskilled migration has driven in many, many cases, the minimum wage to become the maximum wage,” he said.
“Under our proposals, would pay go up, yes it would go up a bit, and I think that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Would our proposals help train British people for jobs? It would.”
The party proposes an Acute Skills Shortage visa, which would allow firms facing severe shortages such as social care to recruit abroad but they would have to train up a British worker for every one brought in from overseas.
Responding to Reform’s announcement, Labour said it was not credible if EU citizens were excluded and was “meaningless” unless the EU was prepared to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The numbers that Reform have come out with overnight have already begun to disassemble…Simple gimmicks like those put forward by Reform that have no basis in reality and where the numbers just fall apart – that’s not the way to tackle a very serious issue, and this Labour Government are getting on and doing that.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Reform of copying Conservative ideas and called the policy “half-baked and unworkable”.
He said: “They lift our policies but strip away the detail that makes them enforceable. Mass low-skill migration carries real fiscal costs – in housing, welfare, and public services – which is why Britain needs a system that rewards contribution and stops abuse.”
Thanks for joining
Thank you for joining The Telegraph’s live coverage of Nigel Farage’s major announcement on welfare and migration.
The Reform UK leader revealed plans on Monday morning to change the law so only UK citizens will be eligible for welfare, not foreign nationals, which he claimed could save the taxpayer £230 billion.
He pledged to abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – which entitles migrants to benefits – including for those who already have been granted the status.
Mr Farage and Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, doubled down on the £230 billion figure despite the Centre for Policy Studies, which first cited it earlier this year, saying it should no longer be used and a new, more accurate figure was on its way.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The numbers that Reform have come out with overnight have already begun to disassemble…
“Simple gimmicks like those put forward by Reform that have no basis in reality and where the numbers just fall apart – that’s not the way to tackle a very serious issue, and this Labour Government are getting on and doing that.”
Farage ‘all anger, no answers’, says minister
A Home Office minister accused Nigel Farage of offering “all anger, no answers”.
Mike Tapp, who was promoted to Sir Keir Starmer’s frontbench team this month, said: “Reform’s big ‘plan’ is nothing but a cut-and-paste of Labour’s detailed immigration White Paper, except without the costings, answers or credibility.
“Farage can’t say how it works, the numbers are disowned, and the policy unravels in real time. All anger, no answers.”
‘Starmer must be bold and cut runaway welfare spending’
Last week, both the good and bad sides of Britain’s economic situation were on display. Our future hinges on which of these comes to dominate, writes Roger Bootle.
The good was undoubtedly the agreement between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump on a US-UK tech alliance, which secured $150bn (£111bn) of American investment in AI and advanced technology. This seems to be in direct response to the UK’s accommodating regulatory regime for AI, in contrast to the EU’s restrictive approach. This represents a clear benefit from Brexit.
Naturally, there are quibbles about whether the deal is quite what it seems. Nevertheless, the confidence of major American corporate leaders in the UK was striking. Jensen Huang, head of the chip company Nvidia, said: “The UK is going to be an AI superpower”.
Mind you, we need to put massive sums into perspective. The £150bn promise, which will presumably be spread over a number of years, amounts to about five per cent of our annual GDP. This happens to be just about the size of last year’s Budget deficit, and is about half of what we spend on welfare every year.
Khan hits out at Farage’s plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain
Sadiq Khan has hit out at Nigel Farage’s latest plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain (ILR), writes our Political Correspondent Genevieve Holl-Allen.
The Labour Mayor of London said that it was “unacceptable” for Reform UK to threaten “to deport people living and working here legally”.
Mr Farage replied: “What about the ones that aren’t working? What about the ones that have never worked and never will work? What about having an honest debate about those we’ve let into this country, many of whom are great people?
“Fine, we understand that, but too many of whom are not. We’ve totally misunderstood what a work permit, what a work visa is. It’s been a back door to full-time settlement.
“And look, we will do battle with Mayor Khan in the 32 London boroughs that are up for election next May.”
Farage: No benefits for non-British citizens
Farage’s plan ‘falling apart in real time’, claims Labour
The Labour Party chairman has called Nigel Farage’s welfare plan “unfunded, unworkable and falling apart in real time”.
Anna Turley said: “Their policy was in pieces before their press conference even started when they relied on discredited numbers. And now Reform have been forced to admit that their policy does not apply to people from the EU, destroying Farage’s claims that it covers all foreign-born nationals.
“Farage is unable to say how many families his policy would break up, what the cost to businesses would be, what would happen to pensioners and how long it would take to implement – basic questions that any serious political party would know the answers to before making an announcement like this.
“They’re just not serious. Yet again they’re chasing headlines with no plan. It’s just more of the don’t know answers the British public has come to expect from Farage and Reform.”
Pro-EU campaigners: Reform’s plans are ‘unconscionably cruel’
Pro-European campaigners have claimed Reform UK’s planned changes to the welfare system are “unconscionably cruel”.
Naomi Smith, the chief executive of Best for Britain, said:“You only have to look to the US to see how this kind of policy can play out where masked gangs are abducting people in the street and tearing families apart.
“Reform’s Trump-style plan to deport thousands of people from the UK who have the legal right to be here, and who even may have been here for decades, would not only be economically devastating but unconscionably cruel.”
Tories: Reform’s ideas are an ‘unworkable’ version of our own
The Conservatives have accused Reform UK of “copying” their ideas in a “half-baked and unworkable” way.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Reform UK are once again copying Conservative ideas, but in a way that is half-baked and unworkable. They lift our policies but strip away the detail that makes them enforceable.
“Mass low-skill migration carries real fiscal costs – in housing, welfare, and public services – which is why Britain needs a system that rewards contribution and stops abuse.
“Reform don’t do the hard work. They are a one-man band with no experience of government, and their reckless, Left-wing economics mean more debt, more spending, more tax.”
Mr Philp said the Tories had tabled detailed amendments in Parliament to amend indefinite leave to remain, adding: “We will double the residency requirement for Indefinite Leave to Remain to ten years, make ILR conditional on genuine economic contribution, block ILR for anyone with a criminal record, ensure there is no access to benefits pre-ILR.
“And we will go further, we will end automatic citizenship routes, impose a hard, legally binding cap on annual legal migration set by Parliament, and ensure temporary work visas are not renewed if people are unemployed or in low-paid work. Tough, fair, enforceable, and deliverable.”
No 10: Farage and Reform are trying to ‘foster division’
Sir Keir Starmer’s political spokeswoman said Reform UK had no interest in tackling the issues facing the country but just sought to “foster division”, writes Daniel Martin.
The Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “Every week Nigel Farage sets out unrealistic, unworkable and unfunded plans. You’ve heard the Prime Minister talk about the politics of grievance that Reform thrives on.
“They don’t want to tackle the issues facing the country, they want to foster division.”
She said Sir Keir believes the country is at a crossroads between “national renewal” and “the path of division and decline which Reform wants to put the country on”.
Lee Anderson: Britain is a ‘food bank for the world’
Lee Anderson said Britain has become a “food bank for the world” under successive Labour and Conservative governments.
Reform UK’s welfare spokesman warned the benefit system was a “complete con” and promised to slash the costs facing taxpayers.
In an article for the Express, Mr Anderson said: “The Tories and Labour have turned Britain into a food bank for the world at the expense of our own people. Instead of supporting Brits, successive governments have instead spent billions supporting migrants.
“There are no better examples than the most recent ‘Boriswave’, where former prime minister Boris Johnson, despite his tough rhetoric on immigration, betrayed the electorate and welcomed record numbers of migrants into this country.”
Mr Anderson added: “This complete con of our system must end. Only Reform will address this head-on by slashing the welfare bill. The plan we have announced, which will save British taxpayers £230bn, is just the beginning.”
Labour MP claims that Farage’s policy is ‘racist’
A Labour MP has shared a claim that Nigel Farage’s plan to scrap welfare for foreign nationals is “racist”.
Natasha Irons, the MP for Croydon East, shared a post by the columnist Andrew Fisher on X that said: “Understand what this means. I work alongside a foreign national. We do the same job side by side for five years.
“We pay the same income tax and National Insurance. We get made redundant. I can claim unemployment benefit. My former colleague cannot. This is racist.”
Analysis: Farage seeks to pin the blame on Johnson
The current political moment is a world away from Nigel Farage standing down hundreds of Brexit Party candidates at the 2019 general election to enable Boris Johnson’s Conservatives to win an 80-seat majority.
Mr Johnson may have “got Brexit done” as promised during that year’s campaign but Mr Farage considers the former prime minister’s track record on legal migration the ultimate betrayal.
Net migration hit a record high of more than 900,000 on Mr Johnson’s watch and the Reform leader used his press conference to repeatedly refer to the “Boriswave” of 3.8 million people who moved to the UK after Brexit under more relaxed rules.
The focus on the Conservative record on migration is likely to further toxify the party’s brand and raises questions about how Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, will respond. Mrs Badenoch has already distanced herself from her party’s past failings.
Immigration remains top of the public’s concerns and this was another forthright press conference from Mr Farage and Zia Yusuf, his head of policy. The challenge for any Reform government would, of course, be not disappointing their voters in the same way.
No exceptions for Ukrainians or Hong Kongers, says Farage
Nigel Farage was asked about how many businesses could close under his plans.
He said there had been a productivity “disaster for this country” in the age of mass migration, adding: “It has led to a change of culture that has been ruinous.”
Challenged on whether indefinite leave to remain would be revoked from Hong Kongers or Ukrainians, Mr Farage replied: “Eight hundred thousand people are due to qualify for indefinite leave to remain over the course of the next few years. This press conference is to say none of them will get it. Thank you.”
Farage defends claim ‘most migrants’ rely on benefits
Asked by a Financial Times journalist about his claim that “most migrants” rely on benefits, Nigel Farage replied: “We are firmly of the belief, with research backing it up, that just over 50 per cent of those who are coming up as part of the Boriswave as part of indefinite leave to remain are not working, have not worked and in all probability will never, ever work.
“And by the way if you want to challenge what I’ve just said, ask the British Government for the numbers because we’ve trying for quite a long time and failed. Maybe with the might and power of the Financial Times you can get a straight answer.”
Yusuf: Farage’s plan won’t apply to EU settled status citizens
Nigel Farage was asked by The Telegraph’s Charles Hymas whether the proposals included EU settled status citizens, or whether it was only for 400,000 non-EU citizens, and the implications for renegotiating the EU withdrawal agreement.
Mr Farage was also asked whether he would deal with opposition from the House of Lords by abolishing it.
He replied: “It’s a good question, but you’re looking for the right answer, aren’t you? But no, we might if we faced that problem just have to appoint a few more peers. But we’ll leave Danny Kruger to work out all of those issues.”
Zia Yusuf said: “We think the number’s materially higher than that so that would be a guesstimate. The answer is no in terms of EU settled status but there is a caveat, there are a lot of EU nationals in this country who are drawing on Universal Credit.
“So you can expect Nigel’s government to open negotiations with the European Union specifically about the welfare aspect. But as Nigel has said the big issue we’re talking about here is the non-EU numbers.
“And by the way even if that 400,000 figure is correct, and we certainly don’t recognise that number… Most of the people we’re talking about here don’t yet have ILR. That is the point.”
Welfare system in a ‘ridiculous’ state, declares Reform leader
Nigel Farage told Monday’s press conference: “It’s ridiculous that another 1,000 people a week are going onto long-term sickness disability benefits and frankly being written off and told they’re a victim. It’s not good for them either.”
Mr Farage said one million people in work would be better off financially if they were out of work, calling it proof of a “terrible poverty trap”.
“This is why, and this is an aspiration we can’t do in our first year, this will take time, but this our ultimate aspiration would be to raise the £20,000 threshold at which people currently start paying tax.”
Mr Farage decried the “myth” that everyone who came to the UK “works hard”.
Nigel Farage insists he will not let voters down on migration
Nigel Farage was asked if he was “bound to disappoint” voters because of the scale of his ambition.
He replied: “I understand we’re aiming to high, I understand we’re ambitious. We need to be. The country’s in dire trouble, dire trouble economically, dire trouble socially.
“Let’s put it to you like this. There’s nothing we’re proposing that we don’t think is doable. And the primary purpose of today’s press conference is to make sure that the Boriswave do not qualify for ILR, are not able to bring dependants, do not qualify for benefits.
“Otherwise the cost to the welfare system in the next five to 10 years will send us under economically.”
We are a fair-minded country and want skilled migrants, says Farage
Nigel Farage said Reform’s proposals would help wages go up and mean more Britons ended up in skilled jobs.
He said the systems were reflective of a “fair-minded country” but more than half of those arriving in the country were a “drain” on taxpayers.
Mr Farage continued: “We are not against skilled immigration into Britain. Of course we want this, we want bright people coming in, we want people contributing into our society…
“Net financially if you look at productivity, and many other measures and de-skilling the British workforce, it’s been a net loss.”
Zia Yusuf added: “If we’re serious about saying we’re going to cut net immigration to zero, we’re going to embark on deporting people who are here illegally.
“We are going to stop the abuse of our welfare system. Yes, there will be some businesses who do have to pay more for that labour.”
Farage downplays danger of legal challenges
Nigel Farage downplayed the idea of “legal challenges” to Reform UK’s plans to block foreign nationals claiming benefits.
“Of course having cut out the Human Rights Act, the European Court in Strasbourg, British courts will be free to make judgments which are the right judgments, which they’re not at the moment.
“We are not for a minute pretending that going back through the backlog is going to be an easy thing to do. It will be complex, it’ll come in many forms, but we do intend to address it.”
Zia Yusuf added that there would be “legal challenges to Nigel’s agenda” but insisted Reform would act quickly to change the law, saying: “To the extent there are legal challenges, Nigel’s government will win them.”
Yusuf: Tories are ‘firefighters turning up to their own arson’
Zia Yusuf accused the Tories of “turning up as firefighters to their own arson”, saying the ‘Boriswave’ of legal migration under the Tories “will not happen under a Reform government”.
He added: “There are people who go back to this country and contribute […] My mother has worked in care homes for years, still works in care homes to this day and she’s over 70.
“And I will tell you this, inside care homes no-one is more aware of the widespread atrocious abuse of the care home visa system that has happened over the past few years.”
Farage: There has been no proper debate about legal migration
Nigel Farage said the Channel crisis was “visible and there for all to see”, adding: “The issue’s become a very big national issue and people are worried as we saw with the Bell hotel in Epping. They’re worried about crime, they’re worried about national security.
“There has not been a proper debate on legal immigration because all the so-called main political parties have agreed. Both Labour and Conservative governments have been happy to have open-door migration […] That is why we’ve not had a proper, full national debate about this.
“What we are attempting to do today is to make people realise that large-scale migration into Britain where 50 per cent of those who come at least will never work and live off the state is actually making this country substantially poorer. We’ve got to have that debate. Quite how Labour and the Conservatives will defend themselves against this, I don’t know.”
Mr Farage then appeared to apologise to Zia Yusuf after he called the next question before Mr Yusuf could say anything.
Yusuf: £234bn figure likely to be ‘way too low’
Zia Yusuf said the £234 billion figure was in fact likely to be “way too low”.
He explained: “That makes assumptions about the take-up of ILR that are based on historic data. That historic data was when EU nationals were the majority of the incoming net legal migration cohorts. This has flipped completely on its head.
“So even that would suggest that the assumption of £234 billion is way too low […] I want to emphasise again the magnitude of this looming fiscal disaster is huge. Reform will solve the problem.”
Nigel Farage and Mr Yusuf were asked to withdraw the £234 billion figure after the statement by the Centre for Policy Studies.
Mr Farage said: “The £230 billion figure as Zia has just said without doubt is too low. I suspect that many more than 800,000 actually will apply for leave for remain, plus it’s quite tough to get all the figures.
“And if you go back to those who have already been granted indefinite leave to remain, without doubt the number is definitely bigger.”
Zia Yusuf: We will introduce new ‘acute skills shortage visa”
Reform would introduce a new “acute skills shortage visa” with a strict cap on numbers, Zia Yusuf has said.
He added: “Any employer that is sponsoring via this visa will have to pay a levy that is in turn spent on training the equivalent British worker for that role.”
Mr Yusuf said “national critical functions” would be filled in the near term but it would build “native British capacity” in the long term.
“[Our policies] can be summed up by the statement that a Reform government under Nigel expects migrants to more than pay their way, not commit crime and ultimately to speak English and contribute to this country.”
Reform to replace indefinite leave to remain with five-year work visa
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, said the ‘Boriswave’ of net migration under the Tories was “the biggest betrayal” of previous governments but had “not yet exploded”.
He added: “For decades now in this country, business has had access to dirt-cheap foreign labour at the expense of British workers.”
Mr Yusuf said indefinite leave to remain would be replaced with a five-year qualifying work visa, with a far higher salary threshold to be determined nearer the time of the next general election.
The Reform policy tsar added that new arrivals would not be allowed to have criminal convictions, while there would be new legislation to ensure foreign nationals could not claim welfare as well as a new ‘English standards test’.
“We have to make these changes,” Mr Yusuf said. “It’s the only way to prevent Britain frankly going bankrupt many times over as a result of these issues.”
Britain is not the world’s food bank, insists Farage
Nigel Farage said: “You come on a work visa. You can’t bring a dependant with you, you can’t claim benefits and of course there’ll be a route to citizenship but a much tougher route to citizenship than we currently have.
“Like I say, we will become like normal countries all over the world. And it’s vital that we do this and it’s vital that we get it right. This is grossly unfair on taxpayers. They are being absolutely hammered to pay for people who are not British citizens.”
He added: “We are not the world’s food bank. It is not for us to provide welfare for people coming in from all over the world.
“The 800,000 people that will get indefinite leave to remain unless this policy is revoked tend to be young, they tend to be low-skilled. They are going to be a huge burden on the state.”
‘We’ll laugh and carry on’
Mr Farage said: “We will not only say that these people do not qualify for indefinite leave to remain, we will abolish indefinite leave to remain as a category in this country.”
As he went to continue his speech, the “Reform UK” banner on his lectern fell onto the ground, catching him off guard.
He said: “Oh dear, that’s not very good, is it? Well, things go wrong, hey. We’ll laugh and carry on.”
Farage stands by £230bn figure
Nigel Farage said the anticipated cost of the 800,000-plus people who will qualify for leave to remain in the next three years was £230 billion, “an absolutely eye-watering sum of money”.
The Reform leader is standing by the figure despite the Centre for Policy Studies, the initial source of the claim, saying it should not be used.
Farage hits out at Johnson on record legal migration
Nigel Farage has hit out at Boris Johnson’s record on legal migration.
“Under a Reform government welfare will be for UK citizens only, it will not be for foreign-born nationals. Indeed we’ll become like most normal countries in the world.
“And in particular what we’re focusing on is the Boriswave. The Boriswave after his huge victory in 2019, and I think the millions that came in the years of his premiership represents the greatest betrayal of democratic wishes certainly in anyone’s living memory.
“This is not what Brexit voters wanted and it is certainly not what any Conservative voter from 2010 onwards wanted.”
Farage: We’re here to make massive future cuts to welfare spending
Nigel Farage has opened today’s Reform press conference, saying: “We have spoken a lot about illegal immigration, we have spoken a lot about what’s happening in the Channel.
“And the public are very, very focused on illegal immigration because of the scale of it, the unfairness of it and of course the repeated promises that successive governments make that they’ll do anything worthwhile to deal with it.
“Three have been returned by the Government, a great victory, three have been returned to France and that was announced on the day that 1,050 came in.
“But there’s been too little debate about legal immigration, too little debate about the consequences of what happened […] For 20 years, I’ve been asking questions about the sheer number of people coming into this country, the impact that it’s had on housing, on health, on roads.
“But I’ve been told for 20 years to shut up and go away, because it’s good for the economy and that is all that matters. Well, quite how you measure quality of life against the economy I don’t know. But now we’re beginning to learn the truth, that simply what we’ve been told on this wasn’t true.
“Far too many who come don’t work, have never worked, and never will work, the ability to bring dependants of all kinds. And when you start to realise that most of those who come are very low-skilled and on very low wages, you start to get a very, very different picture. In fact, you start to get a massive benefits bill […] We are here to make massive future cuts to welfare spending.”
Esther McVey: I’m not defecting to Reform
Esther McVey has denied rumours that she will become the next high-profile Tory to defect to Reform.
Asked whether she had joined Nigel Farage’s party, Mrs McVey told The Telegraph: “No I haven’t.”
The former work and pensions secretary was said to have planned to follow Danny Kruger in leaving the Tories for the insurgent party.
Reform continues to enjoy comfortable poll lead
Reform UK’s focus on immigration and criticism of both Labour and the Conservatives have contributed to its consistent poll lead over the traditional two major parties.
Nigel Farage’s party is now polling at 31 per cent, with Labour on 20.5 per cent, down by more than 13 percentage points on the general election, and the Conservatives on 17.6 per cent.
Zia Yusuf: Britain is going broke, and may soon face catastrophe
Britain stands at a crossroads. Our nation is proud, resourceful, and resilient, but we have been suffocated by a political class that continues to betray the British people, writes Reform UK’s head of policy Zia Yusuf.
For too long, the Tories and Labour have rolled out the red carpet for mass unskilled immigration, turning Britain into a food bank for the world
Britain is going broke. Last year, the British taxpayer spent £266 billion on welfare. £52 billion of that went on Universal Credit. Of that, almost £9 billion went to foreign nationals. One in six people on Universal Credit is a foreign national. The Tories and Labour have turned Britain into a food bank for the world, at the expense of our own people.
This is about to become catastrophic. Between 2026 and 2030, thanks to the Boriswave, 800,000 new migrants are estimated to get ILR. About half of all of them will never work, ever. And yet, every single one of them will have full access to our bloated welfare state for life.
The Boriswave is not made up of scientists, entrepreneurs, and doctors. Sixty per cent of the Boriswave are low-skilled immigrants who, once they’ve gained ILR, will bring further family members and dependants along with them.
Row erupts over Yusuf’s £234bn figure
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, claimed last night that stopping foreign nationals from accessing the British welfare system would save £234 billion over the lifetime of the average migrant.
In an article for The Telegraph, Mr Yusuf said: “The ‘Boriswave’ – the millions of unskilled, non-EU migrants they imported – will cost the taxpayer at least £234 billion, according to the Centre for Policy Studies.”
But in a statement this morning, the Centre for Policy Studies said: “After the CPS’ report was published, the Office for Budget Responsibility revised their definitions of some of the fiscal data contained within our report, meaning that the overall cost estimates should no longer be used.
“The CPS has been in communication with the OBR and other experts for clarity and will be publishing an updated estimate in due course.”
A Labour source said: “Farage’s not even half-baked announcement has already fallen apart. Yet again, Reform have no credible plan and their only answer is ‘don’t know’.”
Farage to hold major press conference on migration
Nigel Farage will pledge to eject hundreds of thousands of legal migrants in an unprecedented reversal of Britain’s relaxed border rules.
In a press conference at 11am, the Reform UK leader will unveil plans to force all migrants with permanent residency to reapply for visas under stricter criteria including a higher salary requirement and a better standard of English.
The party would also change the law to prevent foreign nationals from accessing the British welfare system. The party claims this would save £234 billion over the lifetime of the average migrant, although a row is already brewing over this figure.
Mr Farage will be joined by Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, who will set out more details of the changes.
