Londoners have expressed concern after Nigel Farage announced Reform UK’s plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status earlier this week.
Holding ILR gives people who have come to the UK the right to live, work and study in the country, and apply for benefits if they are eligible.
They must have lived in the UK for 5 years in order to apply, and it is widely considered the ‘main route’ towards acquiring British citizenship.
The settlement status has drawn controversy after Farage claimed that more than 50% of people scheduled to attain ILR status ‘are not working, have not worked and in all probability will never, ever work’.
Approximately 4.53 million people living in the UK hold ILR status, where India, Poland, Pakistan, Romania, and Ireland account for more an a third of foreign-born residents in the country.
Farage’s comments have contributed to the British debate on whether immigrants are an unfair burden on state resources.
The Londoner spoke to members of the public holding ILR status, where many expressed concern about what Reform’s plans could mean for them, as polls show the party to be increasingly likely to triumph in the next general election.
Ghena, 22, a university student holding ILR, said: “Farage is not being fair.
“I came here as a refugee at the age of 15, I’m now studying law at Oxford University. My family contributes to this economy.
“Taking away my ILR status would send me back to Syria, a war-zone that the British are at least partially responsible for.
“Farage doesn’t see individual lives – he’s using a stereotypical, racist logic that says all immigrants are living off of the state when it’s simply not the case.”
Such rhetoric has become more prevalent in recent weeks, where the far-right ‘Unite the Kingdom’ protest has seen anti-immigration policies return to the forefront of political discourse.
Grzegorz Kanecka, 53, an engineer who holds ILR, said: “This country thrives on the input of immigrants and a lot of the time, those people come here from other countries for better work opportunities, bringing their families with them.
“I think Farage believes this decision is an attempt to reclaim ‘British values,’ when in reality, British values are inherently multicultural.”
Kanecka’s perspective is not an uncommon one, where multiple counter-protests organised by groups like ‘Stand Up To Racism’ have been held across the country.
Amélie Wisniewska-Sadok, 21, a Polish-French holder of ILR, said: “My mum is an immigrant, she’s a teacher.
“I’ve spent my whole life in the UK, and I still don’t have citizenship. Farage is insisting that immigrants just don’t have the capacity to do anything good.
“We just want to work, have somewhere to live, and put dinner on the table. Why does that have to be such a politicised, difficult thing?”
The Londoners contacted Reform UK for comment.
Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons
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