Reform pledges renegotiation with EU over benefits

Lee Anderson has said that a Reform government would reopen negotiations with the EU over benefits paid to Britons living abroad.

Speaking on GB News he said: “We are not abandoning PIP; we are reforming the way that PIP is paid to people. And to make comments like lots and lots of people are going to lose the benefit again, that is nonsense.

“All we’re doing is making the system much fairer. We’re looking at weeding out the people that should not be on PIP. You know, we’ve got people in this country, for example, on PIP for acne, for tennis elbow, for constipation, and stuff like that. I mean, this really gets the goat of the hardworking taxpayer in Ashfield.

“And the people with the serious conditions, the genuine claimants, have got nothing to fear. They won’t be reassessed, you know, for over three years and that’s a normal sort of period, anyway.

“So, [they’ve] got nothing to worry about. And I think one of the great things that Rob’s announced today is the fact that people that are on long-term jobseekers allowance over 12 months, they should be earning that money.

“It shouldn’t be a gift from the taxpayer. They need to be out doing jobs in the community, voluntary work, helping the local councils, the local community, getting used to getting up in the morning, actually listening to an alarm clock go off in the morning, like the rest of us do, you know, every single day when we go to work.

“So I think this is a much fairer system. I mean, we’ve got 1.3 million people, foreigners in this country, claiming universal credit. Can you name a country in the world where 1.3 million British people are claiming a universal credit benefit in another country? No, you can’t.

“We’re a soft touch. We’ve been a cash machine for the whole world, and it’s got to stop and that money has got to go back in the pockets of British workers.

“We’ve got a contingency fund of about £500 million anyway, which can be paid for out of the savings. But you know, I would say there might be 30,000 odd Brits in the EU, and I don’t know what the exact figure is of foreign EU nationals in this country.

“But this is going to come to a negotiation between us, and you know, if we are in government and the EU.

“And like Ticey said earlier today, by the time we get into government, this agreement will be 10 years old. It’s time to sit down and have a sensible conversation, like grown-ups, like adults and renegotiate.”