Reform UK has pledged to ban foreign nationals from claiming almost all benefits under a sweeping proposal to cut annual welfare spending by £50 billion.
The right-wing political party announced it would save £21 billion a year by ending state welfare payments for overseas citizens, leaving military veterans such as Gurkhas as the sole exception.
The proposed restrictions would apply to European Union citizens who have settled in the UK, stripping them of access to payments including jobseeker's allowance and housing benefit.
Reform UK acknowledged that barring settled EU residents would require tearing up the UK's Brexit withdrawal agreement with Brussels.
To prepare for potential retaliation from European authorities, the party said it would set aside £500 million to assist British expats who might be forced to leave continental Europe and return to the UK.
Robert Jenrick, the party's shadow chancellor and Treasury spokesman, warned that the UK benefits bill is forecast to reach £407 billion by 2030 and would bankrupt Britain without urgent action.
"Forcing British workers to pay for the benefits of foreigners is not just economically illiterate but plain immoral," Jenrick said.
"People are more than happy to support their neighbours in hard times, but the British taxpayer cannot afford to subsidise everyone on the planet," he added.
"The public have been crying out for this change for decades," Jenrick said. "Unlike the two old parties, Reform will deliver a system that's fair for the British people."
Jenrick is presenting the proposal in a speech today detailing a 50-page policy document intended to end what the party describes as benefits Britain.
Disability benefit reforms
In addition to restricting support for foreign nationals, the policy paper outlines plans to save £22 billion by removing or reducing disability benefits for nearly 3 million people.
Under the plan, a Reform UK government would abolish Personal Independence Payments (PIP), a state benefit meant to cover extra costs for long-term health conditions, alongside the health element of Universal Credit for working-age adults.
These payments would be replaced by a health security allowance, which would provide direct cash payments only to individuals with severe disabilities.
People with less severe disabilities would no longer receive direct cash support from central government and would instead be directed to local councils for assistance.
Employers would also be required to pay an insurance scheme called Return to Work Cover for employees signed off work longer than statutory sick pay allows.
The overall £50 billion in welfare spending cuts proposed by Reform UK is more than double the £23 billion reduction proposed by the Conservative Party.
The Conservative plan restricts sickness benefits to British citizens but retains welfare access for European citizens who hold settled status in the UK.
Political reactions
The policy launch represents Reform UK's first major initiative since party leader Nigel Farage was re-elected to Parliament in the Clacton by-election.
Jenrick, a former Conservative cabinet minister who recently joined Reform UK, faces criticism from opponents claiming he is adopting hardline policies to boost the party in opinion polls during a Conservative revival.
Conservatives previously accused Farage of being soft on welfare after he initially supported removing the two-child benefit cap before reversing his position in a U-turn.
Helen Whately, the Conservative shadow work and pensions spokesman, rejected the proposal as an unworkable plan.
Whately said Reform UK had "rushed out a cobbled-together announcement" that would "drag Britain back into Brexit battles with no certainty or success."
A Labour Party spokesman also criticized the policy, warning of severe diplomatic and economic consequences.
"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, in many cases decades," the Labour spokesman said.
Foreign national spending details
According to figures cited in the Reform UK paper, the UK government spent £55 billion on welfare benefits for foreign nationals between April 2022 and February 2026.
The party stated that the majority of those recipients were migrants with indefinite leave to remain or EU settled status.
The policy paper claimed that 1.3 million foreign nationals currently receive Universal Credit in the UK.
Under the proposed bans, foreign nationals would no longer be eligible for Universal Credit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, tax-free childcare, or child benefit.
British citizens married to foreign spouses would remain eligible to claim state benefits under the party's plan.
Foreign pensioners who have accumulated sufficient National Insurance contributions would also retain the right to claim the UK State Pension.
Reform UK estimated that the restrictions on foreign nationals would save £21 billion by its fifth year, with savings rising to £24 billion by its eighth year.
