Reform UK today warns that any return to Freedom of Movement
would impose a huge and permanent triple burden on British
taxpayers in welfare, infrastructure and benefits.
Under the EU Settlement Scheme, 744,679 EU nationals are already
claiming Universal Credit at a cost of £7.8 billion a year. Of
that, £3.3 billion goes to individuals who do not work at all.
The Withdrawal Agreement gives this group lifelong access to the
UK welfare system.
If net EU migration returned to the pre-referendum average of
164,000 a year, the Office for Budget Responsibility's own
figures show it would require an extra £3.3 billion every year in
public infrastructure spending simply to keep capital stock per
person constant £20,000 of extra investment for every additional
resident. That is £33 billion over a decade.
History shows what happens when controls are relaxed. After 2004,
Eastern European National Insurance registrations exploded from
17,000 to 236,000 in just two years. When restrictions on
Romanians lapsed in 2014, registrations surged from 18,000 to
146,000.
Should net EU migration return to typical pre-referendum levels,
hard-working British taxpayers would be saddled with an
additional £2.2 billion every year in benefit payments.
The European Union itself has fundamentally changed since 2016.
In 2024, 88 per cent of the 1.17 million people who acquired EU
passports came from outside the EU, primarily from the Middle
East and Africa. Germany is fast-tracking citizenship after just
five years. Spain has granted amnesty to more than 500,000
illegal migrants. Restoring free movement would hand foreign
governments the power to decide who can settle and claim benefits
in Britain.
Today, 46.7 million people living in the EU were born outside it
- 8.7 million more than in 2021. At least 16 million already hold
citizenship of an EU country. Under free movement they would have
an automatic right to live and work in the United Kingdom.
Reform UK Leader said:
The British people voted to take back control of our borders. Any
return to free movement would not only be be a betrayal but would
spell catastrophe for Britain. It would mean higher taxes, masses
more pressure on housing, schools and the NHS plus an open
invitation for millions more people to come here and claim
benefits. We will never accept it.
Ends
Note to editors:
Figures drawn from official sources including DWP Universal
Credit data, the Withdrawal Agreement, OBR fiscal assessments,
National Insurance registration statistics, Eurostat and national
citizenship statistics.
