𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Nigel Farage declared the “era of cheap foreign labour is over” as he vowed his deportation plans will lead to higher wages for British workers.

The Reform leader said “mass, unskilled migration” during the Boris Johnson era has suppressed earnings for millions of people.

Unveiling his plans to reverse record numbers of arrivals and avoid a “fiscal disaster”, Mr Farage promised to abolish indefinite leave to remain and ban foreign nationals from claiming any form of welfare.

And those with settlement rights would have them rescinded, under Mr Farage’s plan if he wins the next election.

Estimates have suggested this could cost taxpayers around £200bn.

Outlining his bombshell plans, the Reform leader said: “Far too many that have come don’t work, have never worked and never will work.

“The 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.”

He added: “We are not the world’s food bank. It is not for us to provide welfare for people coming in from all over the world.

“The 800,000 people that will get indefinite leave to remain unless this policy is revoked tend to be young, they tend to be low-skilled. They are going to be a huge burden on the state.

“We are the party that will make massive cuts to welfare spending. Under a Reform government, welfare will be for UK citizens only. It will not be for foreign-born citizens”.

Research by the Centre for Policy Studies revealed over two million visas were issued to migrants between January 2021 and June 2024.

This has led to warnings that as many as 800,000 could apply for indefinite leave to remain – and get access to benefits, the NHS and social homes – after they have lived in the UK for five years.

The first of this cohort – dubbed the Boris Wave – could apply for indefinite leave to remain from January.

A staggering 211,090 migrants given indefinite leave to remain received Universal Credit in August, up from 153,648 a year ago, new figures showed.

It also represents a 120% increase from the 95,612 in April 2022.

Another 770,379 European migrants are claiming Universal Credit, up from 644,847 in April 2022, after being allowed to stay under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Net migration hit a staggering 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

Reform will scrap indefinite leave to remain and replace it with a 5-year visa.

Anyone already granted settlement rights would also have to reapply.

And, as revealed by the Daily Express, Nigel Farage will ban all foreign nationals from claiming any form of welfare.

Only UK citizens will be able to receive benefits, under a Reform government.

The party will increase the qualifying period for British citizenship to seven years.

Mr Farage stressed: “Mass, unskilled migration has driven in many, many cases, the minimum wage to become the maximum wage. Under our proposals, would pay go up?

“Yes it would go up a bit, and I think that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. Would our proposals help train British people for jobs? It would.”

Reform’s policy chief, Zia Yusuf, added: “If we’re serious about saying we’re going to cut net immigration to zero, we’re 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.”

Mr Yusuf admitted the party was not scrapping European settled status, which grants the same rights as ILR for EU citizens.

Some 4.12 million EU citizens have successfully applied for settled status in the UK.

Any legislation barring EU migrants from claiming benefits could breach the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which provided for reciprocal welfare payments for EU and British nationals living abroad.

This could create a potential showdown with the EU.

Mr Yusuf said: “There is a caveat, there are a lot of EU nationals in this country who are drawing on Universal Credit.

“So you can expect Nigel’s government to open negotiations with the European Union specifically about the welfare aspect. But as Nigel has said the big issue we’re talking about here is the non-EU numbers.

Migrants will face stricter limits on the number of dependants they can bring with them to the UK.

If Reform wins the next General Election, lower-paid migrants will only be able to bring one family member with them.

This increases to two in the next tier.

Only people in “Threshold 3” – the highest paid arrivals – would avoid restrictions on who they can bring.

Figures highlighted in policy documents show 55% of the social care visas issued in 2023 were to dependents.

This is “58 times the Government estimate” on the number of arrivals under the scheme set up to avoid a social care crisis.

Mr Farage said: “You come on a work visa. You can’t bring a dependant with you, you can’t claim benefits and of course there’ll be a route to citizenship but a much tougher route to citizenship than we currently have.

“Like I say, we will become like normal countries all over the world. And it’s vital that we do this and it’s vital that we get it right. This is grossly unfair on taxpayers. They are being absolutely hammered to pay for people who are not British citizens.

“We are not the world’s food bank. It is not for us to provide welfare for people coming in from all over the world.

“The 800,000 people that will get indefinite leave to remain unless this policy is revoked tend to be young, they tend to be low-skilled. They are going to be a huge burden on the state.”

A new Acute Skills Shortage Visa would be rolled out and this would be capped.

Mr Yusuf said firms looking to recruit people from abroad would have to pay a “levy” and cover training for an equivalent British worker.

This, Reform hopes, will reduce reliance on foreign workers.

Labour has vowed to force migrants to wait 10 years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain.

But those who contribute more to society could earn settlement sooner.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have declared migrants will have to live in the UK for 10 years, earning at least £38,700 before they can be given indefinite leave to remain.

Kemi Badenoch has also stressed anyone who claims benefits cannot get settlement rights.

Mr Farage added: “We are not against skilled immigration into Britain. Of course, we want this, we want bright people coming in, we want people contributing into our society.

“Net financially if you look at productivity, and many other measures and de-skilling the British workforce, it’s been a net loss.”

Migrants will also be barred from citizenship if they ever claim benefits, can’t speak good English and spend “more than 90 days in any given year outside of the UK.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Reform UK are once again copying Conservative ideas, but in a way that is half-baked and unworkable. They lift our policies but strip away the detail that makes them enforceable.

“Mass low-skill migration carries real fiscal costs – in housing, welfare, and public services – which is why Britain needs a system that rewards contribution and stops abuse.

“Reform don’t do the hard work. They are a one-man band with no experience of government, and their reckless, left-wing economics mean more debt, more spending, more tax.”