Reform UK benefits ban for foreign nationals would include EU citizens

Reform UK, a political party, has proposed banning most benefits for foreign nationals in the UK, including EU citizens with settled status. This move would require renegotiating the UK's Brexit deal with the EU, which could potentially affect British expatriates living in the EU who have indefinite rights to live, work, and study in the country.

The party claims that this policy would save £21bn annually by the fifth year, but Labour argues that the vast majority of migrants are not eligible for benefits, and the Conservatives dismiss the plans as "cobbled together." The welfare cuts are part of a broader overhaul of Britain's benefits system, and Reform UK's shadow chancellor, Robert Jenrick, has criticized the idea as "economically illiterate" and "plain immoral."

The party plans to replace the disability payments system, Pip, with the new welfare proposals if they come to power in the next election. The latest proposals would ban foreign nationals from accessing various welfare payments, such as housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare, and disability benefits, with only a few exemptions, including the war widows pension and Armed Forces compensation.

The party has accounted for a potential £500m cost if British expats from the EU return to the UK to claim benefits following a potential EU retaliation. Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party have all criticized the proposed bans, stating that they would disproportionately affect millions of lawfully residing individuals and undermine support for those who have paid taxes and contributed to the British system.