Reform UK has outlined plans to cut £50bn from the welfare bill, targeting benefits for disabled people and foreign nationals, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from campaigners and opposition parties. The proposals, detailed by the party's finance spokesperson Robert Jenrick, include £20bn in cuts to disability benefits and £21bn from stopping foreign nationals, including EU citizens with settled status, from claiming most benefits.
Details of the Cuts
The party aims to reduce the welfare bill by a quarter, with personal independence payments (Pip) replaced by a cash benefit restricted to the “gravely ill and severely challenged.” Lower-level conditions would receive support overseen by councils and mayors. The plans extend earlier proposals by Nigel Farage, which claimed banning migrants from some benefits and scrapping indefinite leave to remain would save £234bn over decades.
Jenrick's policy paper goes further, stopping foreign-born households from claiming universal credit, housing benefit, pension credit, jobseeker's allowance, child benefit, free childcare, free school meals, or disability benefits. The paper claims this would save £21bn a year by the fifth year, applying even to those with EU settled status, though foreign-born parents with British-born children would still get child benefit and free school meals.
Criticism from Campaigners and Politicians
Best for Britain, a pro-EU group, said denying benefits to those with indefinite leave to remain would tear up the EU withdrawal agreement. Tom Brufatto, its executive director of policy, said polling shows people want closer ties with Europe, not punishing neighbours with settled status. Jenrick called paying benefits to non-British people “plain immoral,” even though many have paid taxes, and wrote in the Telegraph that disability benefit spending was “not generosity … it is suicidal empathy.”
Rachael Maskell, Labour MP, said threatening to remove Pip shows Reform does not want disabled people to play a full role in society, while Labour works through the Timms review to optimise Pip's impact. Linda Burnip of Disabled People Against Cuts noted previous attempts to replace disability benefits failed, citing that Pip was meant to save 20% but didn't, and a small payment could prevent costly hospital stays, which private firms often charge around £12,000 per person a week.
Political Reactions
Labour called the plans “fantasy economics” that would strip support and shift costs to employers. Mothin Ali, Green deputy leader, accused establishment parties of outdoing each other in xenophobia and cutting support from the most vulnerable, urging taxing the super-wealthy instead, referencing £5m donations to Farage. The Conservatives dismissed the announcement as “cobbled together,” claiming only they have a credible plan to save £23bn from welfare alongside a review of sickness benefits.
The proposals are set to be detailed further by Jenrick, with the party framing them as necessary to reduce the welfare bill. Critics argue they will harm the most vulnerable and strain public services, while supporters see them as a step towards fiscal responsibility. The impact remains to be seen as the plans face scrutiny in the coming months.
