REFORM UK PLEDGES TO BAN FOREIGN NATIONALS FROM MOST BENEFITS

Reform UK has announced plans to exclude foreign nationals from most welfare payments if the party enters government, according to a statement from shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick. The proposed ban would apply to European Union nationals with settled status in the UK, as well as other foreign nationals. Exemptions would be limited to payments including war widows' pensions and Armed Forces compensation. Reform claims the policy would save £21bn annually by its fifth year, as part of a wider £50bn annual saving across the welfare system.

The proposals would prevent foreign nationals from claiming housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare and disability benefits. EU nationals with settled status currently have an indefinite right to live, work and study in the UK after a continuous five-year period. Implementing the policy would require renegotiating the Brexit deal, potentially affecting British expatriates living in the EU and their equivalent rights. Jenrick stated that the plan had been developed over six months and described the current system as "economically illiterate" and "plain immoral". Labour has countered that the "vast majority" of migrants have no access to benefits, while the Conservative Party dismissed the proposals as "cobbled together".

The announcement precedes a formal speech on Monday in which Reform will present its complete welfare strategy. The government currently spends an estimated £322bn annually on welfare in Great Britain, representing 10.6 per cent of GDP, with just over half directed towards pensioners. Reform previously pledged to ban foreign nationals from claiming Universal Credit and has said it would replace the disability payment system Personal Independence Payment if it won a general election.