Overview

• Nigel Farage set out proposals to rescind existing settled status and require non-citizens to qualify for renewable visas with tougher rules, including an estimated £60,000 salary threshold and C1-level English.
• Reform says those who fail to meet the new conditions would lose access to benefits and could be expected to leave or face removal, with details on enforcement yet to be set out.
• Party figures confirmed a carve-out for EU citizens with settled status, while signalling plans to seek changes to welfare provisions under the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
• Labour officials and other critics questioned the policy’s legality, practicality and impact on sectors reliant on migrant workers, with Conservatives calling the plan unworkable.
• The Centre for Policy Studies said its lifetime cost estimate cited by Reform “should no longer be used” after OBR revisions, yet Farage claimed the savings would be even larger without providing new evidence.