Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has come under fire after pledging to ban EU citizens from claiming benefits – a move TUC boss Paul Nowak has branded ‘plain wrong’
Nigel Farage has been slammed for plotting to turn millions of people from the EU into “second class citizens” with draconian benefits cuts.
The Reform UK leader announced he would ban people from European Union countries from claiming welfare payments like Universal Credit. Critics claim the move would spark a trade war with Britain’s closest neighbours – meaning rising prices on supermarket shelves.
Challenged by The Mirror over whether it was fair, Mr Farage admitted that “for some people there will be short term concerns”. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told The Mirror: “This is plain wrong.
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“Workers from the EU who have lived and worked in Britain for years – and paid their taxes like everybody else – should not be treated like second class citizens.
“Farage is desperate for a race to the bottom on workers’ rights and standards which would leave everyone worse off.” Mr Farage also pledged to increase the NHS surcharge for foreigners in Britain from £1,035 to £2,718 a year.
This would mean renegotiating the Brexit deal agreed under the Tories – but Mr Farage was unclear what he would offer in return. Pressed on whether he had approached the EU, he said: “No, I’m not terribly popular in Brussels most of the time.”
Tom Brufatto, policy director of Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer UK-EU ties, told The Mirror: “Nigel Farage’s plans are clearly designed to jeopardize the progress being made on the UK’s relationship with the EU, the result of which would further impede businesses trading with Europe, and push up prices for voters already struggling with the cost of living.
“He championed Brexit for years, which our polling shows voters know was a failure and has made the country poorer, and now he wants to do even more damage. He claims to be on the side of Britain, but in reality his policies always leave us worse off.”
Labour MP Luke Charters said: “The real joke here is going from the Brexit he (Mr Farage) ‘masterminded’ to claiming he could negotiate a new deal in three months. Total muppetry.”
Asked whether it was fair that if a company laid off its staff, only British citizens would have a safety net if they fall on hard times, Mr Farage said: “We cannot continue with this current model.
“I understand that for some people there’ll be short term concerns, of course there will be. But what we’re saying is we have to turn this around and frankly, you know, to have so many millions of people of working age not working, is the thing that is going to have to be addressed.”