Nigel Farage has proposed that all EU nationals living in the United Kingdom with so-called “EU settled status” would now have to reapply for a new type of visa. This visa would be valid for only five years and would need to be regularly renewed. Under current legislation, these individuals have the right to access social benefits and other entitlements, just like British citizens. Populist Farage claims that many migrants do not work and are draining the UK’s welfare system.
Yet statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) speak clearly: 9.7% of all Universal Credit recipients held “EU settled status” — a post-Brexit right to reside, work, and claim benefits in the UK. Only 2.7% of recipients had “Indefinite Leave to Remain” (ILR) outside the EU Settlement Scheme — permanent residency granted to non-EU nationals.
Reform UK further proposes raising the minimum salary threshold for foreign workers from the current £41,700 to £60,000 under the Skilled Worker Visa programme. For example, in healthcare — which has faced a critical shortage of qualified staff since Brexit — the current average salary for a nurse is £30,000–£37,000. For junior doctors, it’s £32,000–£45,000. Most non-medical staff earn well below the £41,700 threshold. This move would mean the total collapse of the healthcare system. The already decimated NHS simply wouldn’t have the funds to hire foreign doctors and nurses. And that toothless rabble wrapped in English flags definitely aren’t neurosurgeons whose jobs are being taken by colleagues from other parts of the world.
That’s just one example — healthcare.
I myself am an immigrant, and from the very first day I arrived in this country, I’ve gone to work, paid my taxes properly, and NEVER claimed a single penny from the welfare system. On the contrary I try to give back to the country that welcomed me with open arms. I support charities, I vote, I’m a regular blood donor and registered organ donor. And I know dozens of people who came here from all corners of the globe and became an integral part of British society. I don’t know anyone who sits at home claiming benefits. But I do know people who, every morning, watch from their council flat balconies — cigarette in mouth, English flag flapping — as immigrants rush off to work to pay for their smokes through taxes.