Reform UK has announced a major new policy change to reverse the Boriswave of mass migration from outside the EU. A Reform government will review British citizenship granted to care visa holders who benefited from Shabana Mahmood’s U-turn and strip passports from anyone who fails the review.
Labour has backed down on plans to make those care visa holders wait longer for settlement, allowing them to apply after just five years in the UK. Based on Home Office forecasts, that means an estimated 205,000 people who arrived on the Health and Care route could qualify for British citizenship before the next general election. This will cost the taxpayer more than £50 billion over their lifetimes.
Reform’s review will weigh each person’s net contribution alongside other factors. Anyone stripped of citizenship will have to apply for the new, renewable five-year visa that Reform will introduce to replace indefinite leave to remain.
A Reform government will also extend the qualifying period for British citizenship to a minimum of ten years.
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage said Mahmood had “talked a big game on immigration but has U-turned at the first sign of trouble from her left-wing Labour colleagues”.
“Reform warned last year that if the Boriswave were granted citizenship en masse it would be a fiscal catastrophe and that a Reform government would take decisive action”, he said.
“This is not a decision that we have taken lightly, but it is the only course of action available to prevent serious harm to the taxpayer.”
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said Mahmood’s U-turn was “a complete betrayal of the British people who have voted time and time against mass immigration”.
“The measures Reform has laid out today have been carefully calibrated to cover a specific cohort who are forecast to pose a net lifetime cost on the exchequer of over £50 billion. Only Reform has the resolve to take the action necessary to reverse the Boriswave.”
Labour has backed down on plans to make those care visa holders wait longer for settlement, allowing them to apply after just five years in the UK. Based on Home Office forecasts, that means an estimated 205,000 people who arrived on the Health and Care route could qualify for British citizenship before the next general election. This will cost the taxpayer more than £50 billion over their lifetimes.
Reform’s review will weigh each person’s net contribution alongside other factors. Anyone stripped of citizenship will have to apply for the new, renewable five-year visa that Reform will introduce to replace indefinite leave to remain.
A Reform government will also extend the qualifying period for British citizenship to a minimum of ten years.
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage said Mahmood had “talked a big game on immigration but has U-turned at the first sign of trouble from her left-wing Labour colleagues”.
“Reform warned last year that if the Boriswave were granted citizenship en masse it would be a fiscal catastrophe and that a Reform government would take decisive action”, he said.
“This is not a decision that we have taken lightly, but it is the only course of action available to prevent serious harm to the taxpayer.”
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said Mahmood’s U-turn was “a complete betrayal of the British people who have voted time and time against mass immigration”.
“The measures Reform has laid out today have been carefully calibrated to cover a specific cohort who are forecast to pose a net lifetime cost on the exchequer of over £50 billion. Only Reform has the resolve to take the action necessary to reverse the Boriswave.”
