Reform UK has won the support of migrants in a UK town despite its plans for mass deportations and the abolition of indefinite leave to remain. Nigel Farage's outfit continues to ride high in the polls, ahead of Labour, the Conservatives and Lib Dems.
Mr Farage unveiled Reform's policy for mass deportations in August. It would see illegal migrants detained and deported back to the countries they came from. On Reform Road in Chatham, Kent, one migrant who came from Lithuania to the UK to study and has since made her home here said, despite Reform's stance, she would still vote for them.
Natalija Vasiluna, 24, told the Daily Mail she would “absolutely” vote for Reform if there was an early general election. She said: “I know I sound hypocritical saying this being an immigrant, but the only way to make this country safe is to get immigration under control.”
Ms Vasiluna told the publication she saw the London area hotels in which she worked “filling up” with migrants sent by the council, some of whom she said were nice, but said others would trash the rooms.
The mum-of-one said she and her husband didn't want benefits and would apply for British citizenship, adding: “The UK has got to start putting British people first.”
Besides its plans for mass deportation, Reform UK would ban benefits for migrants as part of efforts to crack down on Britain's Soaring benefits bill. It has also vowed to scrap the two-child benefit cap in a bid to woo Labor voters.
Reform has also announced it would Abolish migrants' right to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and force migrants applying for UK citizenship to renounce other citizenship.
Agata Suleyman, originally from Poland, said Reform has “some good ideas” and Mr Farage has “fought hard”, but the outfit takes ideas “to the extreme”.
She said in Poland if you don't work you receive an allowance which ends after six months. Ms Suleyman said Britain needs to be “more tough”.
In the UK, foreign nationals usually have to wait five years to claim universal credit, but the Labor Government is looking to increase it to 10 years.
Ministers insist they inherited a broken welfare system and spiraling benefits bill which is why they are reforming the system. The proportion of universal credit payments made to foreign nationals has fallen since last July.
Reform's claim it can save £234billion over several decades as a result of its immigration plan has been criticized by Labor and the Lib Dems, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves dismissing the outfit's plans as “simple gimmicks” with “no basis in reality”.
The Conservatives accused Reform UK of copying their ideas on indefinite leave to remain, but in “half-baked” and “unworkable” ways.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said last month: “Mass low-skill migration carries real fiscal costs – in housing, welfare, and public services – which is why Britain needs a system that rewards contribution and stops abuse.”
Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey, said Reform's plans to ax indefinite leave to remain for migrants could spark another Windrush scandal, adding Mr Farage had not thought Reform's policy through.
Chatham local Philip Josephs, whose father was part of the Windrush generation, said Reform is a bunch of opportunists with dog whistles, and it seems to be full of defectors from the Tories. He added: “They're a serious threat to the country.”