Reform plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain for migrants

[Twiglets1]

BBC report following Farage's press conference this afternoon:

Reform UK has announced it would abolish the right of migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years, if the party wins the next election.

Under the plans, Reform would abolish the right of migrants to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) - which gives migrants rights and access to benefits - and reapply for new visas with tougher rules.

Reform will also unveil plans to bar anyone other than British citizens from accessing welfare. The party claims their plans would save £234bn over several decades.

Reform said it would replace ILR with visas that force migrants to reapply every five years. That includes hundreds of thousands of migrants currently in the UK.
Applicants would also have to meet certain criteria, including a higher salary threshold and standard of English.

The announcement launches Reform's fresh assault on what they brand the "Boriswave" - 3.8 million people who entered the UK after Brexit under looser rules brought in by Boris Johnson's administration.

Speaking at a press conference, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the "main reason" for the policy was to "wake everybody up to the Boris wave".

Hundreds of thousands of these migrants, who have come to the UK since 2021, will soon qualify for permanent residence under the ILR scheme.

Reform said the changes would not apply to EU nationals whose settled status is protected under the European Union Withdrawal Agreement, who make up the majority of benefit claimants by people with ILR.

But EU nationals not benefiting from the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement will be subject to the new system.

Reform will also introduce a new scheme called Acute Skills Shortage Visas (ASSV) for jobs in crisis. Under the scheme, firms can hire one worker from abroad only if they train one at home.

Reform will also raise the average wait for UK citizenship from six years to seven.

Reform say their policy is designed to bring Britain into line with other countries such as the US and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and save the UK more than £234bn over what it calls the "lifetime of the average migrant".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c930xypxpqpo

The Tories never worked it out either.

What a dilemma the next election is going to be between useless Tories and useless Labour.

I'm not scared but it's easy for me to say as I'm not an immigrant. It's impossible for me to know how it feels to not feel secure within a country I've made a life in. The rhetoric around immigrants and the general attitude within the country is currently not pleasant. I imagine it probably feels that people like Farage would gladly deport you at a moment's notice without a care in the world, if they could get away with it.

There have been numerous quotes from online sources posted on this thread, but somehow they're invisible to some posters

Because Farage has already floated the idea of rolling back naturalised citizenships. He is now planning to split up families while deporting legal ILR holders, (ILR is called “permanent residency” in other Commonwealth countries), reneging on a deal made with all those individuals when they paid their visa fees, and years of taxes and NI.

He has made it very clear he wants scapegoats, not solutions to Britain’s problems. When he says “immigrant,” he starts off conjuring up a scary unknown possible criminal off a boat, moves into meaning the recent wave of legal visa-holders, then smoothly flips that into talking about deporting long- settled permanent residents and even naturalised Britons. But he also says their families will adjust to losing them, because he’s “giving them warning of what’s coming.”

There is zero logic to his rhetoric, but as we’ve seen here tonight he changes and widens his target on the fly to keep his followers excited about having someone to blame and punish.

Why would anyone foreign-born trust a word out of his mouth? And when he makes it this clear he’s more about the punishment of his out-group than serious governing, it would be wise for native-born Britons to ask themselves who he’d go after next.

Well don't engage then. You're the one who keeps asking me questions about my parents for some reason. I just politely respond and then get told off by you for my answers!

Yes, and given that the number of foreign pensioners in the country right now is vanishingly small it would take deporting British pensioners to make the great money-saving idea actually work.

OR you boost your economy and working population, and finally build enough houses (more building jobs!) to bring the prices down. And then nan can still get her pension and not have a mob waiting eagerly to grab her family home.

I watched the speech in full and he was specifically asked by a journalist about those who already have British citizenship by the time Reform come into power (assuming they do). He stated that those who are already British citizens would have the right to stay as they are legal British citizens.

Agree that he seems ok with families being split up if Reform does deport legal ILR holders - but that is a different thing to people who have become British citizens.

I watched the presentation he did yesterday afternoon. Not online quotes from sources.. He said foreign nationals could not claim benefits. And the system would be changed from ILR in the years to a visa system requiring work. Apart from EU nationals. That's in line with most other countries.

You just change the state pension system by removing the triple lock and raising the pension age. I think probably better than deporting British pensioners personally but that's just my opinion.

Yes he did but he was also asked a question near the end about migrants who have become British citizens and he said of course they would have the right to stay, they are legal British citizens.

No one will be deporting British pensioners.

And raising the pension age would be hugely unpopular with younger people, as would removing the triple lock amongst older people.

It's a horrible situation and not of our making. Boris and Blair took the brakes off immigration which has led to this and it now needs to be sorted out. Polls say excessive immigration (both legal and illegal) is the number one concern. Reform are just responding to an out of control situation that is not being adequately dealt with by Labour. If Labour get a handle on it, that will shoot Reform's fox. They're not in power yet.

Well it won't matter how popular/unpopular it is. If there's no money there's no money. NI payments haven't gone into a pot with our name on. We are paying for today's pensioners.

Exactly.

I think you need your sarcasm detector adjusting.

There's not enough money in the UK so I agree that unpopular policies will need to be passed by governments whether it's linked to immigration, benefits, triple lock or retirement age.

What I do know is that British pensioners won't be deported 😂

This is a very real prospect indeed.
The whole thing sounds plain crazy.

You actually think Reform have worked any of this out?
Bless.

There already is a reciprocal arrangement with EU countries like Spain (as the other poster mentioned Benidorm) under a Brexit agreement. People from EU countries get settled status once they have lived in the UK for 5 years, not Indefinite Leave to Remain.

So this new proposal would mainly affect non EU migrants as they are the ones who currently gain Indefinite Leave to Remain which would be replaced.

Sorry, I’m not feeling especially sarky about this topic. Not enough comfortable distance from it.

So you’re comfortable with splitting families up if the Home Office backlog hasn’t got to their applications by time Nige comes into power? Even if the people deported have been paying taxes and NI for years, if not decades?

I don't know why you keep saying that to me. I know. I never said they were. That was a PP (to whom I was replying).

No why would you turn it personal and say I'm comfortable with splitting families up? I'm not Nigel Farage or a member of his party. I'm just being factual about what he said as a lot of people seem confused.

The policy isn't one i agree with, but calling it a Boris wave is more about ensuring any comeback by Boris is tainted by immigration in the view of that section of the electorate. I think this whole idea is more about that than any policy they will actually implement shoukd they win an election..

Boris has been popping up in my news feed more recently and he is the only other personality that seems to have a presence for some bits of the electorate.

You’ve agree that British pensioners are a problem, only you’ve suggested making them poor instead of raising the tax intake from more workers as a way of dealing with them.