Reform vows to scrap central Brexit deal element and raise tax on firms taking on foreign workers
Robert Jenrick has confirmed that a Reform UK government would strip EU citizens with settled status of their legal protections, effectively tearing up the Brexit divorce deal and leaving millions of people who have spent years or decades in Britain facing the loss of their jobs and possible deportation. The party’s Treasury spokesman, speaking ahead of the Makerfield by-election, said that under a Nigel Farage administration the tax system would be rewritten to treat only British citizens as “British workers”, explicitly excluding the estimated three million EU nationals who were granted permanent residence rights under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) after Brexit.
The announcement marks a fundamental breach of the Withdrawal Agreement that ended the UK’s membership of the European Union. Under the terms of that treaty, EU citizens lawfully resident in Britain before 31 December 2020 were given either settled or pre-settled status, entitling them to live, work and access public services indefinitely. Reform’s proposal would, in Jenrick’s own words, mean those individuals will not be counted as British workers for tax purposes, and employers who hire them would be penalised with higher national insurance contributions and a new “migrant labour levy”. The practical effect, immigration law specialists warn, is that many would find it impossible to keep their jobs and would be forced to leave the country.
The policy goes further than a simple tax change. The research briefing prepared by this newsroom’s investigative team reveals that Reform’s broader immigration platform includes the outright abolition of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), the permanent settlement status that has existed for decades under the Immigration Act 1971. According to the party’s manifesto, all existing ILR awards would be rescinded and replaced with a five-year renewable visa that would demand higher salary thresholds, stricter criminality and tax compliance checks, a higher standard of English and a limit on time spent outside the UK. Although the briefing notes that the EU Settlement Scheme is protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and cannot be abolished by domestic legislation alone, Jenrick’s tax proposals achieve a similar erosion of rights by making it economically unviable for employers to keep EU citizens on the payroll. No transitional arrangements have been offered for those who currently hold settled status.
Under the plan, Rachel Reeves’ recent increase in employer national insurance contributions would be scrapped — but only for businesses hiring British citizens. Companies that employ foreign nationals, including EU citizens with settled status, would continue to pay the higher rate. On top of that, a new annual “employers’ migrant levy” would be charged for every overseas worker, with no exemption for those who have been in Britain since before Brexit. Jenrick did not set rates for the levy, arguing that such details would be determined closer to an election, but he made clear that settled-status holders would not qualify for any discount. “We are unashamedly on the side of the British people,” he said, adding that Reform would design a tax system that “backs British workers and puts their interests first every single time”.
The economic rationale offered by the party rests on two unsubstantiated claims. Jenrick asserted that preferential treatment for migrant workers was pushing up welfare costs because Britons “prefer to stay at home”, and that cheap foreign labour “undercuts British wages and standards of living”. Without providing evidence, he suggested that the reforms would be funded by the new levy and by reduced welfare spending. Nigel Farage has previously argued that reliance on “cheap labour” has depressed productivity. Critics, including immigration law practitioners consulted for the research briefing, contend that the measures would worsen existing skills shortages in sectors such as healthcare, education and engineering, and would make the UK one of the most expensive destinations for work immigration.
Jenrick’s language directly echoes the controversial “British jobs for British workers” slogan used by Gordon Brown in 2007 and 2009, which was widely criticised at the time as meaningless and in contravention of EU free-movement rules. “I remember in 2008 when Gordon Brown said ‘British jobs for British workers’, and he was attacked for saying it,” Jenrick said. “Well, Reform is actually going to do it this time.” He added that anyone in the country who is not a British citizen and “not somebody who will be able to stay in the UK under a Reform government … should think of leaving the country, because we want a country where people are here for the right reasons”.
The policy is being unveiled alongside Reform’s commitment to “stop the boats” by returning migrants to France, to deport illegal migrants through a six-point plan that includes leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, and to adopt “smart immigration” that prioritises essential skills in healthcare and those earning above the average salary. Internal party disagreements have surfaced over whether foreign nationals living in social housing would be deported automatically or only if they fail economic tests, with Jenrick initially offering a softer line before Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, contradicted him. The research briefing notes that the current UK government, by contrast, is reimbursing visa fees for fast-growing companies that hire overseas talent, and has been implementing reforms to tighten right-to-work compliance while extending the qualifying period for settlement to ten years.
If Reform were to implement these proposals, the article’s original reporting warned that the deal with the EU would collapse, leading to a potential trade war and new tariffs. The legal and diplomatic fallout would be severe: the Withdrawal Agreement is an internationally binding treaty, and any unilateral revocation of settled-status protections would almost certainly face legal challenges, requiring amendments to the Immigration Act 1971 and the British Nationality Act 1981. Against the backdrop of a re-drawn Brexit debate — with Labour figures such as Wes Streeting calling for a strategy to rejoin the bloc — Reform is unashamedly staking out ground as the party willing to break the 2016 settlement entirely, this time turning on the very people who were promised their place in Britain would be secure.
