Reform UK has defended its use of disputed figures to claim billions of pounds would be saved by its immigration and welfare plans, as it emerged EU citizens would still have access to benefits in Britain.
The party has said it would axe the right of migrants to apply for indefinite leave to remain, ban anyone who is not a UK citizen from claiming benefits, and force those applying for UK citizenship to renounce other citizenship.
But it is facing questions over its claim that the plans could save ÂŁ234 billion after the think tank that produced the estimate said it should no longer be used and Nigel Farage confirmed there would be a carve-out for EU citizens with settled status.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the figures show Reformâs plans âhave no basis in realityâ, while Labour chairwoman Anna Turley said Mr Farage was âunable to say how many families his policy would break upâ. The Tories branded the proposals âhalf-baked and unworkableâ.
Reform estimates about 800,000 people will be eligible for ILR in the next few years, after they arrived between 2020 and 2024, and insists savings can be made by blocking those without citizenship from claiming benefits.
But it has exempted EU citizens with settled status from its plans to ban migrant access to benefits and its policies on ILR. Government sources have said there are 777,000 foreign Universal Credit claimants with this status.
Reform cited a Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) report in claiming its plans could save around ÂŁ234 billion, despite the think tank having since said the figure, which had been a lifetime estimate, should no longer be used.
When pointed to the CPS statement, Mr Farage said: âThe ÂŁ230 billion figure, as Zia (Yusuf, head of policy) has just said, that is without a doubt too low.
âIt underestimates things, I suspect many more than 800,000 actually will apply for indefinite leave to remain, plus itâs quite tough to get all the figures.
âAnd if you go back to those who have already been granted indefinite leave to remain, without doubt the number is considerably bigger.â
Responding to Reformâs announcement, Ms Reeves said: âThe numbers that Reform have come out with overnight have already begun to disassemble.
âI want to bring down illegal migration. This Government is bringing down migration. We have sent a record number of people who have no right to be in our country home.â
She said: âIt is a difficult challenge, I think everybody can see that, but simple gimmicks like those put forward by Reform that have no basis in reality and where the numbers just fall apart â thatâs not the way to tackle a very serious issue, and this Labour Government are getting on and doing that.â
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Reform of copying Conservative ideas and called the policy âhalf-baked and unworkableâ.
He said: âThey lift our policies but strip away the detail that makes them enforceable. Mass low-skill migration carries real fiscal costs â in housing, welfare, and public services â which is why Britain needs a system that rewards contribution and stops abuse.â
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was asked if he thought the plans to axe indefinite leave to remain could spark another Windrush scandal.
He told GB News: âYes. Nigel Farage has not clearly thought this through. He has not worked out the impact on red tape or on taxes.
âHe has not realised that lots of these people have made their lives here, contributing to businesses, to the health service.â
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan condemned the plans. He said: âThreatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.â
Asked about the Mayorâs criticism, Mr Farage said: âWhat about about the ones that arenât working? What about the ones who have never and never will work?
âWhat about having an honest debate about those weâve let into this country, many of whom are great people, fine, we understand that, but too many of whom are not.â
In a statement published on Monday, the CPS said: âAfter the CPSâ report was published, the Office for Budget Responsibility revised their definitions of some of the fiscal data contained within our report, meaning that the overall cost estimates should no longer be used.â
Mr Farage wants to abolish indefinite leave to remain, for which migrants can currently apply after five years, and force them to renew their visa every five years.
Applicants would have to meet certain criteria, including a higher salary threshold and better standard of English. Reform were not able to give a specific figure for a salary cap on Monday, but said it would do so down the line.
They would have to have lived in the UK for seven years, up from five, and there would be tighter restrictions on bringing spouses and children to the UK.
But by the time of the next election, many of those who arrived during what Mr Farage calls the âBoris waveâ of migration would already have qualified for indefinite leave to remain, before Reform had got into government.
People can usually apply for UK citizenship 12 months after being granted ILR. This means it is unclear how many will still have ILR by the time of the next election, as opposed to having been granted citizenship.
Mr Farage said the immigration figures under Mr Johnson, and Conservative governments since 2010, had âbetrayed democracyâ.
âFar too many that have come donât work, have never worked and never will work,â he said.
âThe ability to bring dependents of all kinds, and when you realise that most that come are very low-skilled, and on very low wages, you start to get a very, very different picture. In fact, you start to get a massive benefits bill.â
He said: âIn particular, what weâre focusing on this morning is the âBoris waveâ. The Boris wave, after his huge victory in 2019.
âAnd I think the millions that came in the years of his premiership, represents the greatest betrayal of democratic wishes certainly in anyoneâs living memory.
âThis is not what Brexit voters wanted, and itâs certainly not what any Conservative voter wanted from 2010 onwards.â
Mr Farage said those from Hong Kong and Ukraine would not be exempt from the measures.
EU citizens with settled status would be exempt, but the partyâs head of policy Zia Yusuf indicated a Reform government would seek to reopen the EU withdrawal agreement, which guarantees EU citizens rights to claim benefits.
Mr Yusuf said: âThere is a lot of EU nationals in this country who are drawing on universal credit, so you can expect Nigelâs government to open negotiations with the European Union specifically about the welfare aspect.
âBut as Nigel has said time and again, the big issue weâre talking about here is the non-EU numbers.â
The party also indicated that businesses could end up paying higher wages as a result of the policy â but denied it would affect adult social care.
Mr Yusuf, said: âIf weâre serious about saying weâre going to cut net immigration to zero, weâre going to embark on deporting people who are here illegally, we are going to stop the abuse of our welfare system, yes, there will be some businesses who do have to pay more for that labour.â
Labour chairwoman Ms Turley said: âNigel Farageâs not even half-baked plan is unfunded, unworkable and falling apart in real time.
âTheir policy was in pieces before their press conference even started when they relied on discredited numbers. And now Reform have been forced to admit that their policy does not apply to people from the EU â destroying Farageâs claims that it covers all foreign-born nationals.
âFarage is unable to say how many families his policy would break up, what the cost to businesses would be, what would happen to pensioners and how long it would take to implement â basic questions that any serious political party would know the answers to before making an announcement like this.â
