Foreign nationals could be barred from claiming benefits under Tory plans to slash almost £50 billion from government spending.
Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride will on Monday unveil plans for cutting welfare, foreign aid and the size of the civil service to put the public finances on a more stable footing and pave the way for tax cuts.
In a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Sir Mel will warn that Britain cannot ‘keep spending money we simply do not have’.
Proposals include ending the right of people with ‘low-level’ mental health conditions from claiming sickness benefits. Instead they would be offered support and treatment to get back to work.
Foreign nationals would be barred from accessing the welfare system, affecting up to half a million current claimants. They would also lose the right to access social housing in future.
Sir Mel will outline plans for reforms of the benefits system, including tighter restrictions on housing benefit and greater requirements to look for work.
Writing in the Daily Mail on Monday, Tory welfare spokesman Helen Whately also pledges a tightening of the rules around the controversial Motability scheme, which provides subsidised cars for people on sickness benefits.
Under one proposal, only vehicles that have been adapted to suit a person’s physical needs would continue to qualify for VAT exemption.
Labour’s welfare policy boils down to spending more and expecting less,’ Ms Whately writes.
‘Our plan is different. We know what it will take to get people off benefits and working again. We will make sure only those who need help get it.
‘That includes putting a stop to sickness benefits for low-level mental health problems like anxiety.
‘No more free Motability cars for ADHD and tennis elbow. And a return to face to face assessments and job centre meetings.’
The Conservatives claim welfare savings could total £23 billion a year.
The Tory proposals would also involve cutting the civil service by a quarter,saving £8 billion a year.
The foreign aid budget would be reduced to 0.1 per cent of GDP saving a further £7 billion a year.
Sir Mel will today identify savings totalling £47 billion – far in excess of anything Labour has so far proposed.
The scale of the savings would free up resources for significant tax cuts – equal to about 6p off the basic rate of income tax.
Sir Mel will say: ‘The Conservative Party will never, ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for. We cannot deliver stability unless we live within our means. No more pretending we can keep spending money we simply do not have.’
Most migrants on temporary visas cannot claim benefits. But around 470,000 migrants with indefinite leave to remain, limited leave to remain or refugee status are currently claiming universal credit.
Under the Conservative proposals they would only be eligible for benefits in exceptional circumstances. Most would also be ineligible for social housing, saving up to £4 billion a year from the housing benefit bill.
The Tory plans would also see hundreds of thousands of people with mild mental health conditions lose the right to claim sickness benefits over time when their cases come up for review.
And Sir Mel will commit to restoring the two-child benefit cap if it is scrapped by Labour.
The Conservatives said that scrapping subsidies for heat pumps, electric vehicles and other parts of Labour’s Net Zero agenda could save a further £1.6 billion a year.
