The European Union has issued a warning to the UK over Nigel Farage’s immigration plans, which would see EU citizens with “settled status” stripped of their benefits
Reform is plotting to strike a deal with Brussels that would bar EU citizens holding “settled status” from accessing benefits should they triumph in the upcoming general election.
However, European insiders have dismissed any likelihood of downgrading the position of EU nationals living in Britain, who remain safeguarded under the legally binding post-Brexit agreement.
“It takes two to tango in a treaty negotiation, why would we agree to reopen this very sensitive Brexit legacy to make EU nationals worse off than they are now,” one European diplomat revealed to The Telegraph.
This development comes as Nigel Farage faces EU migrant showdown as he vows higher wages for British workers, reports the Express.
“It would not happen and if a UK government stripped people of their rights under the withdrawal treaty there would be huge consequences. It would breach all the undertakings made by Britain since the referendum and would crash relations.”
Officials have also highlighted that UK nationals living across EU nations enjoy identical protections under the existing arrangement.
Farage targets ‘endless cheap foreign labour’
Farage maintained that proposals to abolish “indefinite leave to remain” and mandate all migrants secure work visas at nearly double the present salary threshold would halt “endless cheap foreign labour”, with anyone failing to qualify for the new visa facing deportation should they decline to depart the UK voluntarily. However, Reform backtracked on Monday by announcing an initial exemption for 4.2 million EU citizens, casting doubt over the actual scale of welfare savings – particularly given that numerous overseas claimants possess “settled status”.
The proposal would initially target just 431,000 non-EU migrants holding indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Data reveals extent of EU benefit claims
Official statistics demonstrate that almost 10 per cent of universal credit recipients hold EU settled status, a post-Brexit designation permitting them to reside, work and access benefits in Britain.
Meanwhile, only 2.7 per cent of universal credit recipients are non-EU nationals with indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Reform’s assertion that it could deliver £234 billion in savings faced criticism from Labour, after Farage referenced a Centre for Policy Studies report.
The think tank acknowledged it relied on Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that had subsequently been challenged, meaning the figures “should no longer be used”.
Labour condemns proposal as ‘falling apart in real time’
Despite Farage maintaining it represented an underestimate, Labour chairwoman Anna Turley branded the scheme “unfunded, unworkable, and falling apart in real time”.
The Reform UK leader indicated that everyone, including those with British family members, Ukrainians and Hong Kongers, would face identical restrictions. “All over the world, you apply for a work visa. That visa is for you. Not to bring your family. It’s for you. It’s for a set period of time, and at the end of it you leave, or you’re physically deported. That is how a normal work visa works,” he declared.
800,000 face losing residency rights
Reform claimed that abolishing indefinite leave to remain would result in denying residency rights and benefit access to 800,000 individuals who are nearing the five-year requirement for UK residence.
Farage attributed soaring net migration to record levels under the previous Tory administration, dubbing it the “Boriswave” in one of his most scathing direct attacks on the former premier to date.
The extent of potential deportations remains uncertain, given Reform’s proposal to increase the visa salary threshold from £41,700 to approximately £60,000 annually.
No precise figure has been established, leaving experts struggling to calculate how many current UK residents and workers would lose eligibility, alongside doubts about voluntary departures versus forced removals.
Business groups warn of labour shortages
Nevertheless, business organisations cautioned that such measures could trigger severe staffing crises.
“The vast majority of employers who recruit from overseas do so only when they cannot access the skills they need domestically,” explained Alex Hall-Chen, a senior policy adviser for employment at the Institute of Directors.
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