Reform proposes UK benefits ban for foreign nationals

Reform UK would exclude foreign nationals in the UK from most benefits under a proposed welfare overhaul if it formed a government, including EU nationals with settled status, BBC News reported on Monday.

Robert Jenrick, Reform's economy spokesman, said in a speech the plans were intended to change the approach to welfare and "restore fairness". He said one-in-six Universal Credit claimants are not a British or Irish citizen and argued the money should "make the lives of British people better", adding: "The British taxpayer is acting as the welfare state for the world. That's unfair, we all know it." Reform claims the foreign-national ban would save £21bn a year by its fifth year, within a 50-page plan drawn up over six months that it says would save £50bn a year overall.

The UK government expects welfare spending in Great Britain to reach £322bn this year, or 10.6% of GDP, with just over half going to pensioners. The proposed ban would cover housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare and disability benefits, with limited exemptions including the war widows pension and Armed Forces compensation.

Reform claims that by 2029 around 1.5 million adults who are not British citizens would receive Universal Credit and around 215,000 non-British citizens would receive Pip. The party had previously pledged to bar foreign nationals from Universal Credit and said on Saturday it would replace the Pip disability payments system if it entered Number 10 at the next election.

Settled status gives EU nationals an indefinite right to live, work and study in the UK and usually follows five years' continuous residence, so applying the policy to that group would require renegotiating the Brexit deal and could mean British expatriates in the EU lose equivalent rights. Reform said it had allowed for a potential £500m cost if British expats returned from the EU to claim benefits, while MP Danny Kruger called it a "reasonable principle" that welfare should be paid by the country of citizenship.

The plan also includes a "welfare to work" scheme requiring people deemed fit to work who have claimed benefits for more than 12 months to do 20 hours a week of community work organised by local councils. Reform also proposes requiring businesses with more than five staff to pay "return to work cover" insurance to fund the first two years after an employee is signed off sick, offset by cuts to employers' National Insurance contributions; Jenrick said "nothing that we've outlined today will adversely affect businesses".