Farage wants to eliminate permanent residency rights for foreigners in the UK.

LondonThe populist and xenophobic Nigel Farage has once again put immigration at the center of his latest political bout. In fact, it's the only topic he talks about, and it's gradually gaining traction, consolidating his hopes of reaching Downing Street, even though the general elections are still four years away. However, this Monday he went even further than his usual demonization of foreigners.

Because a month after opening the British political year with the promise of "mass deportations" of refugees and asylum seekers arriving across the Manga Channel on the islands, the leader of Reform UK has announced at a press conference in London that he wants to abolish permanent residency status for foreigners (indefinite leave to remain, ILR) and replace it with a five-year work visa with much stricter requirements: a higher salary threshold, a ban on bringing relatives, criminal record checks, and a reinforced English test.

The goal is to nip in the bud what Farage has called "the Boriswave": the 3.8 million people who arrived after Brexit and the country's effective exit from the European Union in January 2021, under more lax rules established by Boris Johnson's government. "It is the biggest betrayal of the democratic will of the British people in recent times," he said.

The extremist leader, however, has forgotten that what he calls Boriswave (the Boris wave) was made possible in large part by the divorce with the European Union, of which Farage was one of the main driving forces. According to his version, a large proportion of these 3.8 million migrants are low-skilled young people who "will end up dependent on the taxpayer." "We are not the food bank of the world," he stressed. He also made it clear that there will be no exceptions for Ukrainians or Hong Kong citizens, who could access the ILR in the coming years.

Save or go bust

And regarding the more than 3.3 million EU citizens who have reached their ILR under agreements with Brussels, while he has said that "they are not the priority," he has hinted that he would renegotiate the conditions of access to social benefits and pensions with the EU. "We are the party that will make massive cuts in welfare spending. The benefits will only go to UK citizens."

Farage and his policy chief, Zia Yusuf, have justified the measure by claiming that excluding legal migrants from the welfare system could save £234 billion. But the figure has been denied for the same reason. think tank from which it originated, the Centre for Policy Studies, which warned that its calculations are outdated. However, Reform UK insists that the true cost is even higher. According to Yusuf, "the fiscal disaster that awaits us is enormous and only Reform UK has the courage to face it," he said.

The new offensive comes at a time when Reform UK leads the polls with 31% of voting intention, ahead of Labour (20.5%) and the Conservatives (17.6%). Immigration, especially legal immigration, remains the primary concern of the British, and Farage is confident of capitalizing on it with drastic proposals: "We will not disappoint our voters. If we do not stop this model, the cost to well-being in five or ten years will sink us economically." The strategy, in any case, is clear. Pointing day in and day out at migrants, with or without papers, as responsible for all the country's ills. The result is effective: Farage's poison creates a racist, xenophobic, and intolerant climate, and nine days ago this was demonstrated with a large ultra demonstration in central London.