MORE than one million migrants are claiming benefits in Britain – with the majority unemployed.
New stats today show the number of foreign nationals on Universal Credit has surged from 883,470 in 2022 to 1.26million last month.
News Group Newspapers LtdMore than one million migrants are claiming Universal Credit in Britain, pictured above a migrant hotel in Derby[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe number of foreign nationals on Universal Credit has surged, new figures show[/caption]
PAThe majority are unemployed[/caption]
The majority of immigrants getting the taxpayer handouts are not in work.
The DWP stats – released for the first time – was this morning branded an “unsustainable situation” by campaigners.
Most of the migrants getting Universal Credit are EU nationals, comprising 770,379 of the claims.
Non EU nationals with indefinite leave make up 211,090 of the claims, followed by 118,749 refugees, 54,156 on humanitarian visas, 75,267 on time-limited visas, and 33,240 “others”.
Some 737,799 of the migrants are unemployed, while 510,970 are in some kind of work, according to the figures.
The number of Brits on Universal Credit last month was 6.6million, including 4.3million who do not have jobs.
Today’s stats will spark more anger among taxpayers bracing for more squeezes at the Autumn Budget.
Tory MP Neil O’Brien said: “Politicians claim that immigration is going to bring the best and brightest here, but we can see from that stats that’s not true, and we are importing large numbers of people who will be a burden on taxpayers.
“This is madness and damaging our living standards. There is no sign Starmer will fix this.”
But Nigel Farage told The Sun: “Let’s not forget that nearly all of this happened under 14 years of a Conservative government. They should be in hiding over what they have done to our country.”
Rob Bates from the Centre for Migration Control said: “Over one million migrants are claiming benefits in Britain.
“An unsustainable situation which lays bare the very real consequences that mass migration has inflicted on the British public.
“Indefinite Leave to Remain must be scrapped if we are to have any hope of turning the tide.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The latest universal credit statistics should send a shiver down the spine of government ministers.
“Britain is sleepwalking into a culture of worklessness, with millions of Brits effectively dumped onto the welfare pile, all the while the system appears as a treasure chest for foreign nationals.”
A Government spokesman said: “People in the UK illegally, with no immigration status, cannot receive Universal Credit, and have no access to public funds.
“But we want to tighten up the system by doubling the current length of time it takes to apply once legal status is awarded, from five to 10 years, as part of a new contribution-based model to settlement.
“We inherited a broken welfare system and spiralling, unsustainable benefits bill. We’re acting to reform the system, including tightening these sorts of rules.
“The proportion of Universal Credit payments to foreign nationals has already fallen since last July.”
Starmer under pressure on migration and welfare
By Jack Elsom, Political Editor
IT IS not often that an early drop of government statistics makes you spit out your morning cornflakes.
But revelations that more than one million migrants are claiming Universal Credit have left jaws on the floor today.
While the numbers of foreign nationals on benefits has increased under Labour, it is also true that successive Tory administrations failed to get a grip.
But it is Sir Keir Starmer who will now come under pressure to act in the face of a taxpaying public increasingly feeling they are being taken for a ride.
That the majority of foreign nationals on Universal Credit are unemployed will only rub salt in the wounds.
It is part of a wider failure to rein in Britain’s eye-watering welfare bill, an issue recently ducked again as the PM caved to a backbench revolt over his benefit cuts.
It is true to say there are millions more UK nationals getting Universal Credit than immigrants.
But today’s stats are a moment of political danger for Starmer because it sees the twin issues of migration and welfare collide.
Voters are furious about the level of both.
Sir Keir knows he has to make serious progress on them to have any hope of halting the charge of Reform.
An exasperated public expects nothing less.
More than one million migrants are claiming Universal CreditAlamy
What is settled status?
MILLIONS of EU citizens were granted settled status or Indefinite Leave to Remain to stay in the UK after Brexit.
EU nationals and their families were able to apply if they had been in the UK for at least five years.
Settled status gives EU citizens the same rights as their British counterparts on healthcare, education, benefits and pensions.
It allows them to continue to live and work in Britain indefinitely post-Brexit but does not include the right to a British passport.
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