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The US Mission in Nigeria yesterday vowed to bar corrupt, high-profile individuals from entering the United States. Yesterday, Reform UK said it would abolish the right of migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years, if it wins the next election.
The US Mission posted on X, warning that its resolve to fight corruption would not spare anyone, stating that high-profile individuals who engage in corrupt practices would be barred from entering the US.
The Mission said: “Fighting corruption knows no borders or limits on accountability. Even when high-profile individuals engage in corruption, they can be barred from receiving U.S. visas.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK has announced it would abolish the right of migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years, if the party wins the next election.
Under the plans, migrants would need to reapply for new visas with tougher rules, and Reform would abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain, ILR, which gives people rights and access to benefits.
Reform has also said it planned to bar anyone other than British citizens from accessing welfare. The party claims their plans would save £234billion over several decades.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the suggested savings “have no basis in reality” and the government were already looking at restricting migrants’ welfare access.
Reform UK Leader, Nigel Farage, said the UK should not be “the world’s food bank”.
Launching the new policies, Farage said: “It is not for us to provide welfare for people coming in from all over the world.” Under the current system, migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years, giving them the right to live, study and work in the UK permanently. It is a key route to gaining British citizenship and allows people to claim benefits.
Reform said it would replace ILR with visas that force migrants to reapply every five years. That includes hundreds of thousands of migrants currently in the UK.
Applicants would also have to meet certain criteria, including a higher salary threshold and standard of English. The government is currently consulting on plans to double the average wait for migrants to apply for ILR from five years to 10.
The announcement launches Reform’s fresh assault on what they brand the “Boriswave” – 3.8 million people who entered the UK after Brexit under looser rules brought in by Boris Johnson’s administration.
Speaking at a press conference, Farage said the main reason for the policy was to “wake everybody up to the Boris wave”. Hundreds of thousands of these migrants, who have come to the UK since 2021, will soon qualify for permanent residence under the ILR scheme.
In July, there were 213,666 people with ILR claiming Universal Credit benefits, according to figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
