Nearly 1.5 million migrants on Universal Credit: 'Britain's the food bank of the world!'
Shocking new data has revealed nearly 1.5 million migrants received Universal Credit payments during 2025, making up a sizeable 15 per cent of total claimants.
The Department for Work and Pensions released the figures for the first time this week, following a Freedom of Information request from the Centre for Migration Control.
The largest group among claimants – at nearly 900,000 – were those who had secured residency through the European Union's settlement scheme.
Refugees accounted for near 150,000 of the total, while 67,000 had been granted humanitarian protection status, and a further 333,000 held indefinite leave to remain.
The remaining claimants were categorised as "other", with immigration status not recorded on digital systems for some 32,000 claimants.
Migrants who arrived between 2022 and 2023 under Boris Johnson's premiership are projected to cost £9.5billion in lifetime benefits and public services should they be permitted to settle from this year.
The findings have intensified pressure on the Government to proceed with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's proposals, requiring migrants to wait up to a decade before gaining settlement rights and accessing benefits.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for a complete ban on benefit claims by immigrants who are not British citizens, with an exception for EU nationals with permanent settlement.
He said: "Foreigners who come here should make a contribution and not take benefits funded by hard-working taxpayers. It is simply unfair and immoral if someone can enter the UK and claim benefits before becoming a citizen.
"Taxpayers who get up early and work hard all day should not be funding benefits for immigrants. Labour's benefits bonanza has to end."
Labour's proposed reforms would extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five years to ten, with eligibility dependent on earning a wage, demonstrating high-level English proficiency and contributing to society, The Times reports.
Ministers are also consulting on measures preventing migrants from accessing welfare until they obtain British citizenship, which would require an additional one to three years after securing indefinite leave to remain.
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However, the plans face significant internal opposition, with more than 100 Labour MPs signing a letter demanding the Government reconsider, particularly regarding retrospective application to migrants already residing in the UK.
Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, warned Britain was "becoming the food bank of the world at a time when British people are seeing a decline in their quality of life."
He cautioned without decisive action from the Home Secretary on the "Boriswave", the situation would "descend into a full-blown fiscal crisis".
Ms Mahmood is currently reviewing consultation responses, positioning her approach as an alternative to both the Green Party's "open borders" stance and what she characterised as Reform's "racist" policies.
Downing Street has indicated it may soften the impact through transitional arrangements for those already living in the UK, with payment incentives of up to £10,000 per migrant to return to their country of origin.
A Government spokesman defended the reforms, stating: "The proportion of Universal Credit claimants who are foreign nationals has fallen in the past year, and we will double the time that migrants must live in the country before they qualify for any public funds.
"These reforms will ensure those who seek to live here permanently contribute to our country first, paying in more than they take out."
With the economy buckling to support those exploiting the welfare system, droves of migrants are still making the journey across the Channel, with some 360 arrivals over the past weekend.
In a bid to curve the wave, French police are facing a human rights probe for popping an inflatable migrant boat before it set sail for the Kent coast.
Footage of the incident was circulated across social media, which appeared to show an officer using a knife to slash a rubber dinghy packed with migrants on a Calais beach.
The standoff is believed to have occurred on Sunday morning, with no injuries reported during the incident.
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