Reform UK Proposes Broad Ban on Welfare Benefits for Foreign Nationals

Reform UK has pledged to bar foreign nationals from claiming almost all forms of welfare if the party wins the next general election. The proposal would remove entitlements to Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Child Benefit, free childcare, and disability benefits. This policy would include European Union citizens who hold settled status in the UK. Reform claims the move would save taxpayers 21 billion pounds a year within five years. Robert Jenrick, the party's Treasury spokesperson, stated that forcing British workers to pay for the benefits of foreigners is economically illiterate and plain immoral.

There would be a small number of exceptions to the ban, including the War Widows Pension and Armed Forces compensation. The party indicated that those who have lived and worked in the UK for 25 years would retain their state pension but lose access to other benefits, though they could apply for British citizenship. Additionally, foreign born parents with British born children would remain eligible for child benefit and free school meals. The policy would require the UK government to renegotiate the post Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU. Reform has accounted for a potential 500 million pound cost should British expatriates return from the EU to claim benefits in retaliation.

Critics from other parties have condemned the plan. Labour stated that the proposal would plunge the UK back into years of Brexit renegotiations and strip support from millions who have lawfully lived and worked in Britain. The Liberal Democrats described the proposals as senseless and cruel, arguing that the focus should instead be on fixing the NHS and social care. The Green Party called the move cowardly, suggesting that the government should tax the wealthy instead of taking from the defenceless.

Beyond the foreign national ban, Reform is proposing a wider welfare overhaul intended to save 50 billion pounds a year. This includes a 20 billion pound cut to disability benefits and the replacement of Personal Independence Payments (Pip) with a benefit restricted to those who are gravely ill or severely challenged. While Reform frames these cuts as necessary to prevent Britain from going bankrupt, center left sources highlight concerns that such measures target the most vulnerable and ignore the long term savings that disability support provides by keeping people out of expensive hospital care.