Reform pledges ‘senseless and cruel’ ban on all foreign nationals claiming benefits

Reform UK has pledged to bar foreign nationals from claiming almost all forms of welfare in a move condemned as “senseless and cruel”. Nigel Farage’s party said it would remove entitlements to Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Child Benefit, free childcare and disability benefits if it wins the next general election. Reform claims the move, which will include those from the EU given ‘settled status’ in the UK after Brexit, would save taxpayers £21 billion a year within five years. Other parties attacked the plan, warning it would plunge the UK back into years of Brexit negotiations and “strip” support from millions who have worked and paid taxes in the UK for years or even decades. open image in gallery The policy has been unveiled by Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick (PA) Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick will formally unveil the policy at a press conference on Monday. He 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. "The public have been crying out for this change for decades. Unlike the two old parties, Reform will deliver a system that’s fair for the British people.” The measures go further than Reform’s previous commitment to cut Universal Credit for foreign nationals, with the party saying it would cover “almost all forms of welfare”. Reform also appeared to admit it could face delays implementing the policy, saying it would require ministers to renegotiate the post-Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union, which protects the social security entitlements of those in the UK before Britain left the bloc. At Monday’s event, Mr Jenrick is also expected to warn that unless savings are made the benefits bill will “bankrupt Britain and send taxes even higher”. He will also criticise his former party, the Conservatives, which he left earlier this year, describing them as “two sides of the same coin” with Labour. A Labour spokesperson hit out at the plans, which he said would "mean ripping up the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, plunging the UK back into years of Brexit renegotiations, and stripping support from potentially millions of people who have lawfully lived, worked, and paid taxes in Britain for years, and in many cases decades.