13:37 GMT
Gerry Georgieva
BBC Verify researcher
One of Reform UK’s proposals for saving money is to end Universal Credit (UC) for foreign nationals.
The party says “foreign nationals receive around £8bn a year in UC”, including those with EU settled status, and cutting that “would save £6bn this year” – even with a three-month transition period.
Between 2022 and 2024, external, the Department for Work and Pensions paid out on average of £8.1bn in UC each year to nationals who are not from the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man – known as the Common Travel Area (CTA).
Reform’s idea has implications for the rights of EU nationals which are enshrined in the Withdrawal Agreement, external which the UK agreed when it left the bloc.
Among these rights is a reciprocal deal where European Union citizens are entitled to UK benefits while Britons in the EU can claim payments there.
Out of the 1.3 million non-CTA nationals, external receiving UC as of September 2025, nearly 60% (755,000 people), were on the EU settlement scheme. 351,000, or 46% of them, were in employment but with low enough income to claim UC.
Removing their entitlement would breach the Withdrawal Agreement.
When asked about this during the press conference, Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf said “we actually need to renegotiate this”.
Reform leader Nigel Farage added “the whole relationship with the European Union needs renegotiating”.