Farage plan for deportation of legal immigrants condemned

£230bn was called into question when it emerged that it had been sourced from a Centre for Policy Studies report whose authors said the figure “should not be used” because it was based on erroneous data.

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Asked by reporters whether he would withdraw the £230bn figure in light of this, Farage said it was “without a doubt too low” and “underestimates things”.

He did not provide a source for his claim that most migrants rely on benefits, saying he was “firmly of the belief with research backing it up” that more than 50% of the people due to become eligible for ILR in the next few years “are not working, have not worked and in all probability will never, ever work”.

Reform clarified that its policy of abolishing ILR would not apply to EU immigrants with settled status, raising further questions about the policy’s promised savings. Government sources said 770,000 universal credit claimants who were EU citizens would be exempt from the change.

Estimates from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford put the total population of non-EU citizens with ILR at 430,000 at the end of 2024.

Pressed on the impact of his announcement on sectors reliant on foreign labour, including the NHS and social care, Farage said he would open a strictly capped visa route for jobs with a skills shortage - while requiring employers to train local staff.