Reform’s plan to cut EU citizens’ benefits would risk trade war with Europe, Labour claims – UK politics live

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Alf Dubs says he's 'depressed' by Labour's asylum plans, which are 'going in wrong direction'

Alf Dubs, the Labour peer and former MP who came to the UK on Kindertransport in 1939 and who campaigns on behalf of migrants, told the Today programme this morning that he was “depressed” by the asylum politicies announced by the government yesterday. He explained:

I find it upsetting that we’ve got to adopt such a hard line – what we need is a bit of compassion in our politics, and I think that some of the measures were going in the wrong direction, they won’t help.

The hard line approach will not, in fact, deter people from coming here – at least on the basis of people I spoke to in Calais, for example – I don’t think it will deter them.

There are some some minor things in the proposal which will be okay but on the whole I think we’re going in the wrong direction – very much so.

He said he was particularly concerned by the proposal for the government to focus more on deporting families with children.

I think there is a proper case for children, there’s a proper case for family reunion – when there are children who are on their own and who’ve got family in this country, then I think the right thing to do is to have family reunion and bringing children over here.

But to use children as a weapon, as the home secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing – I’m lost for words, frankly, because my concern was that if we remove people who come here, what happens if they’ve had children in the meantime?

What are we supposed to do with children who are born here, who’ve been to school here, who are part of our community, our society? We can’t just say, ‘oh well, out you go because your parents don’t claim to be here’.

Reform UK's plan to cut EU citizens’ benefits would risk trade war with Europe, Labour claims

Good morning. Yesterday, as the government announced drastic plans to curb the number of asylum seekers able to stay in the UK, it was accused of adopting the politics of Reform UK, the anti-immigration party with a big lead in the opinion polls. In response, ministers argued that Labour would be doing even worse if it just ignored the legitimate concerns of voters who are supporting Nigel Farage’s party.

But, when mainstream parties move on to the territory of the more extreme parties, those parties often respond with a further lurch to the right, and we will see an example of that today. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is holding a press conference where he is going to announce proposals that cover immigration and the budget (the other huge story preoccupying Westminster politics at the moment). As Peter Walker reports, Farage will propose spending cuts which he clams would save £25bn a year.

At the heart of the plan are three proposals, all of which involve penalising foreigners. They are:

• The virtual elimination of all foreign aid spending. Currently aid spending runs at almost £14bn a year, but Reform would slash this to £1bn.

• Removing the right of EU nationals living in the UK to claim benefits, which Reform UK says would save £6bn.

• Increasing the cost of the NHS surcharge, the fee paid by non-UK residents when they get a visa to stay in the UK. This would rise form £1,035 to £2,718 a year, which Reform UK says would save £5bn.

Yesterday the Home Office triggered outrage by suggesting that the government might remove jewellery from asylum seekers to help compensate for what they cost the taxpayer. According to Politico, one Reform official described this as “vindictive”. But the ‘jewellery’ plan (which does not even mention jewellery at all – that story only emerged from a hypothetical comment in an interview) would probably only raise paltry sums. Farage is proposing a huge fiscal rethink that would appropriate billions earmarked for people who aren’t British.

With nationalism an increasingly powerful force in politics, Farage is clearly calculating that this will go down well with voters.

In advance of the Reform press conference, Labour has issued a press notice criticising the proposals. But it does not refer to aid spending, or the NHS surcharge. Instead it points out that removing benefits from EU nationals would be a breach of the post-Brexit trade deal, which potentially could mean a trade war with Europe. A Labour party spokesperson said:

Nigel Farage’s fantasy numbers don’t add up, and he’d leave British taxpayers footing a hefty bill.

Farage is happy to slap British shoppers with higher prices at the checkouts by risking a trade war with Europe. He’d betray working people and hammer British businesses who want to trade with the EU.

Farage seems to think that the threat of trade retaliation from the EU is just a bluff, but he will explain more at his press conference. It is all a bit reminiscent of Brexit, when leavers were accused of having a rosy view of quite how strong their leverage would be in talks with Brussels.

Here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.

10am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, and Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy, hold a press conference.

10am: Kemi Badenoch and Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, hold a press conference.

11.30am: Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

After 12.30pm: MPs debate the Northern Ireland Troubles bill at second reading.

Afternoon: Keir Starmer flies to Berlin, where he is having dinner with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

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