A REFORM UK policy to ban foreign nationals from claiming almost all kinds of benefits in the UK has been slammed as “cruel and unworkable”.
The proposed ban would cover European Union nationals with settled status in the UK, something that would require Nigel Farage’s party to renegotiate the Brexit deal with Brussels if they were to win the next general election.
It would also potentially mean British expatriates in the EU losing equivalent rights.
Reform UK had previously pledged to ban foreign nationals from claiming universal credit but the new proposals covers almost all welfare payments including housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker’s allowance, child benefit, free childcare and disability benefits.
Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert 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. 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.”
But the proposal has been met with backlash, with the Scottish Greens questioning whether it is even workable.
“These vile plans would affect people who live and work in our communities, pay taxes, raise families and contribute to Scotland every day,” North East MSP Maggie Chapman told The National.
“Reform UK want to deny them the safety net that any of us may need when we lose a job, become ill or fall on hard times.”
She added: “Reform UK want to take support away from children, disabled people and families struggling to get by amidst the cost of living crisis, all on the basis of figures Farage and his cronies have failed to explain.
“Scapegoating migrants will never fix our public services, nor will it lift anyone out of poverty. We should be taxing billionaires and multinational corporations fairly, ensuring everyone has what they need to live well, not allowing the likes of Reform UK to divide our communities and punish some of the most marginalised people in them.”
A Labour spokesman, meanwhile, said: “These plans 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.
“That includes people with settled status who are part of our communities, raising families, working and contributing to our economy.”
The spokesman said the “vast majority” of migrants had no access to benefits and the Labour Government was already reforming the welfare system.
