Reform UK Proposes Ban on Welfare for Foreign Nationals

Reform UK, led by former Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, announced a plan to bar foreign nationals—including EU citizens with settled status—from almost all UK welfare programmes. The proposal would eliminate eligibility for Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Child Benefit, free childcare and disability benefits, retaining only narrow exemptions such as the War Widows Pension and Armed Forces compensation. Jenrick framed the move as a response to the government’s projected £322 billion (10.6 % of GDP) welfare bill, of which more than half funds pensioners.

BBC NewsThe Independent

Reform’s six-month, 50-page blueprint claims the cuts could save £50 billion a year or £21 billion annually within five years. Implementation would require renegotiating the post-Brexit withdrawal agreement that protects social-security rights for residents who were in the UK before the EU exit.

The Independent

The party’s financial projections differ: one source cites a £50 billion annual saving, another cites £21 billion over five years. Neither figure has been independently verified, and the plan’s reliance on renegotiating the EU withdrawal agreement introduces legal uncertainty that has not been quantified.

The Independent

• “Forcing British workers to pay for the benefits of foreigners is not just economically illiterate but plain immoral,” — Robert Jenrick, reform’s treasury spokesman

BBC News