Fury as nearly 350k migrant families could get extra welfare after Rachel Reeves’s Budget
Critics warned that people should have to pay into the system before taking out of it
Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty)
Nearly 350,000 foreign-born families could get extra welfare handouts because of Rachel Reeves‘s Budget, according to new analysis. The research also found that almost 200,000 of them are from just 10 countries.
Families from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria are set to benefit the most from the £3 billion decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap, the analysis found. Tory MP Nick Timothy, who carried out the research, told The Sun: “You have to ask whose side this Government is on.
“They promised not to put up taxes after their first disastrous Budget, which itself broke their tax promises made before the general election.
“Now they are actively choosing to increase welfare spending — when they should be cutting it — while making working families pay the price.
“And the beneficiaries, as this research shows, will disproportionately be immigrant families who have never paid into the system.”
Reform UK’s policy chief Zia Yusuf added: “It is obvious from the data — even though a lot of it is hidden — that the primary beneficiaries of the latest Labour policy will be foreign national families, many of whom are not in work.
“It is totally unfair for British families and taxpayers to have to pay for that. You should have to put in to take out of our system.”
The Chancellor used her Budget last month to hike taxes by £26 billion, with a significant amount of the money used to fund welfare payments such as axing the two-child benefit cap.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has defended the move and said it will lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
A Government spokesman said: “Overall, the proportion of Universal Credit claimants who are foreign nationals has fallen since October 2024, and we will consult on restricting migrants’ access to benefits if they are not making an economic contribution to the UK.”
