Nigel Farage has been warned his controversial plans to introduce stricter rules for legal migrants will spark “tear families apart”.
The Reform UK leader says he wants to abolish indefinite leave to remain after five years and force applicants to renew their visa every five years.
The party said the proposals would “lead to hundreds of thousands of people having to apply and ultimately losing their settled status in the UK.”
But campaigners have branded the “Trump-style plan” as unconscionably cruel”.
“You only have to look to the US to see how this kind of policy can play out where masked gangs are abducting people in the street and tearing families apart,” Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, said.
“Reform’s Trump-style plan to deport thousands of people from the UK who have the legal right to be here, and who even may have been here for decades, would not only be economically devastating but unconscionably cruel.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the plans had no basis in reality, while the mayor of London Sadiq Khan called them unacceptable.
‘Britain is my home – but Farage’s new plan has me fearing for my future’
The Independent’s Alex Ross reports:
Brener Seixas, who works in London, pays taxes through his above-average salary while volunteering for a housing association cooperative in Lewisham. He also runs a Brazilian film festival, which takes place next month.
Despite having lived in the UK for four years, the 34-year-old, who is preparing to apply for ILR status in March, said Reform UK’s radical policy on immigrants had left him feeling insecure about his future.
He told The Independent: “The proposals to scrap ILR, and force people like me to reapply repeatedly for the right to stay, don’t just change the rules on paper – they make me feel like a guest who can be asked to leave at any time, no matter how much I’ve invested in this country.”
How Nigel Farage’s plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain could put thousands at risk of deportation
Threatening nursing staff abhorrent beyond words, says union
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says Nigel Farage’s immigration plan is “abhorrent beyond words”.
General secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Threatening to sack thousands of migrant nursing staff is abhorrent beyond words. These are people who have come to the UK to care for patients and become part of our communities. They deserve so much better than this.
“The policy of retrospectively removing people’s rights in this way would be unprecedented, leaving migrant nursing staff unable to work or access welfare, despite having paid tax.
“It shows neither compassion nor an understanding of the fundamental role our brilliant migrant nursing staff play in health and care.
“Without them, services would simply cease to function.”
Farage policy would break up families, says Labour
Labour chairwoman Anna Turley said the Reform UK leader was unable to say how many families his policy would break up.
She said: “Nigel Farage’s not-even-half-baked plan is unfunded, unworkable and falling apart in real time.
“Reform have been forced to admit that their policy does not apply to people from the EU – destroying Farage’s claims that it covers all foreign-born nationals.
“Farage is unable to say how many families his policy would break up, what the cost to businesses would be, what would happen to pensioners and how long it would take to implement – basic questions that any serious political party would know the answers to before making an announcement like this.”
Gatwick expansion go-ahead shows Labour climate ‘contradictions’
Tories accuse Farage of lifting their policies
The Conservatives, who have already put forward amendments to the indefinite leave to remain (ILR) rules, accused Reform UK of lifting its policies but removing necessary details.
Chris Philp MP, shadow home secretary, 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.”
He said the Tories would double the residency requirement to 10 years, make ILR conditional on genuine economic contribution, block ILR for anyone with a criminal record and ensure there is no access to benefits pre-ILR.
Kemi Badenoch flagged up her policies earlier this year:
Numbers granted indefinite leave to remain in UK
Reform plans branded ‘unworkable stunt based on dodgy maths’
Charities have branded Reform UK’s new legal migration proposals as an “unworkable stunt based on dodgy maths”.
“These proposals would tank our already-struggling economy, by disrupting the lives of millions of people who’ve been living and working legally in the UK for many years,” Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, head of advocacy at charity Praxis, said.
“As is becoming the norm with Reform, these proposals are nothing but an unworkable stunt based on dodgy maths.
“But let’s be clear what this boils down to: Reform do not want foreigners here. Indefinite Leave to Remain is crucial: it enables people to put down roots in their communities and fulfil their potential, and brings them a step closer to gaining British citizenship.
“We need to make pathways to settlement faster and more affordable so that people can get on with their lives.”
