THOUSANDS of Britons could lose access to benefits in Spain if Reform UK pushes ahead with plans to strip EU nationals of welfare in Britain, one of the party’s own MPs has admitted.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Monday, Danny Kruger said he would ‘understand it’ if European countries decided to ‘deny our nationals access to their welfare system’ in response to the plan.
It came as Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s economy spokesman, unveiled a proposal on Monday to ban foreign nationals – including EU citizens – from accessing most benefits in Britain if the party is elected to government.
The plan would require a renegotiation of the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU, with experts warning Brussels could respond with a tit-for-tat ban on Britons living across Europe.
Kruger said affected British expats across Europe could either return to the UK to claim benefits there or potentially receive British disability payments abroad, provided a new agreement is reached and they meet Reform’s eligibility criteria.
He said: “So I’d understand if the Europeans decided to apply the same principle that we are and to deny our nationals access to their welfare system and we will pay for that ourselves.”
He added: “[Affected UK expats abroad] would have two options – they can either return to the UK, they might wish to do that if the benefits system is preferable for them, but we’re open to a negotiation that it might mean that we could pay British disability benefits to them, if they qualify under our new scheme.”
The proposals are part of a wider £50 billion overhaul of the welfare system unveiled by Reform, which says the current system is too expensive and too generous.
The party claims banning most benefits for foreign nationals would save the taxpayer £21 billion a year by the fifth year.
Jenrick said the British taxpayer was effectively ‘acting as the welfare state for the world’, arguing that the system should put British citizens first.
The proposals are not currently government policy and would only be implemented if Reform wins power at a future general election.
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The party’s own policy documents say foreign nationals would no longer be eligible for welfare payments under a Reform government, while EU nationals with settled status would retain their residency rights but lose their current entitlement to benefits.
The plan would, however, run into the existing Brexit settlement.
EU citizens in Britain who are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement have rights that include equal treatment in areas such as social security, meaning Reform would need to renegotiate the UK’s arrangements with the EU before introducing the proposed ban.
Spain was home to 266,462 British nationals as of January 1, 2025, according to the latest figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
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