Overseas nationals denied benefits under a Conservative plan to limit social security to UK citizens would have the option to return to their own countries, the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, has said.
Under the proposals, benefits would be denied to any overseas nationals, including those with indefinite leave to remain, even if they have lived in the UK and paid taxes for decades.
The only exceptions would be for pensions and for EU citizens who have settled status under the post-Brexit agreement with Brussels, Tory officials said.
The idea forms part of a wider proposal to cut £47bn a year from public spending, with the biggest chunk, £23bn, coming from reductions in welfare, that was set out by Stride in a speech to the Conservative party conference.
Speaker later at the event in Manchester, Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, claimed that large numbers of people were using sickness benefits as a “lifestyle choice”, as she promised a crackdown.
Asked by the BBC what options were available to UK-based foreign nationals who might find themselves in financial need if the policy was implemented, Stride said one would be for them to leave the country.
“If they’ve come from other parts of the world, they would have an option to return to those other parts,” he said.
Pressed on this, he said: “I can’t speak to everybody’s individual circumstances. There are some where it wouldn’t necessarily impact them, this change. There are … some that will be able to adjust their working arrangements, or perhaps work longer, or whatever it may be as a response to this.
“But the point that I think is important is that UK citizenship should mean something. And I think when it comes to the benefits system, I think most [in the] country feel that it’s right and proper that it is there for UK citizens.”
In her speech to the conference, Whately contrasted what she said was the attitude of people who did their best to get through difficult moments with the “millions of people right now” she claimed were “sitting on the sofa at home”.
“Millions have got themselves a sick note from the GP and signed on to sickness benefits with just a form and a phone call,” she argued. “Millions are getting benefits for anxiety and ADHD, along with a free motability car.
“TikTok videos tell you how – and some people even pay for VIP services to boost their chances of a successful benefits claim.”
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Under proposals outlined overnight by the Tories, a further £8bn annually would be saved by cutting about 130,000 civil service jobs, and £7bn by slashing overseas aid to 0.1% of GDP. Keir Starmer’s Labour government has already cut it from 0.5% to 0.3%.
Other, slightly more vaguely expressed savings would come from axing what the Conservatives called “costly and ineffective green subsidies”.
Stride sought to portray the Tories as the only party with a sensible fiscal plan.
“We have a welfare budget that is spiralling out of control, and we believe there are substantial savings there, particularly around lower-level mental health issues and getting people into work that have those conditions, rather than being them being on benefits,” he told the BBC.
“The size of the civil service has grown very rapidly, by over 35%, since 2016. We think that we can get the civil service to that size at a substantial saving.”
He added: “We really need to do this, because the country is living beyond its things. There needs to be a party, and it is the Conservative party, that will take fiscal responsibility very seriously.”
