Andy Burnham (Image: Getty)
How long can a state last when the number of those financially dependent on it exceeds the number contributing to its coffers? Such a question surely must not be far from the minds of our political leaders. After all, the data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reports make it seem as if the cliff’s edge is fast approaching.
Earlier this year, the scale of the benefits crisis was laid bare when statistics revealed that about 53.3% of the population take away more than they pay in. Yet as ever, it appears misery begets misery, and for the boffins of Whitehall, the latest development in that miserable state of affairs only deepens the challenges they must overcome.
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Now, Daily Express readers are faced with the stark reality that the amount of British taxpayers’ cash handed out to foreign nationals in Universal Credit has broken £10billion. That means around one in every six households that received the handout are foreign nationals, which has predictably sparked fury from the Conservative benches, and sent Reform UK’s contingent into a tizzy.
If those on the Labour side cannot fathom why this might be, they might want to head to their constituencies and ask their voters what they make of it. Those Britons might make note of the fact that the bill has soared by some £4.4bn in just two years – something which leaves many questions yet to be answered. It’s shocking.
Even as rumours swirl in Westminster that the Treasury is greedily eyeing further ways to improve its finances at the expense of our own, we are being told that billions are being spent on those born on other shores.
Few in the UK believe a safety net for the unfortunate should be removed. But many will baulk at the idea that those born overseas should benefit from the work and taxation of working Britons.
We are hardly a country that can boast of a vastly productive economy, coffers overflowing with rivulets of wealth, and all the domestic ills put soundly to bed. Speak to anyone, and they can tell you of lacklustre transport, underfunded local services and an NHS ever hungry for further investment. That’s not to mention the black hole in the national defence budget, which has led to alarm bells from former defence chiefs warning that the country is defenceless.
Before contemplating which other taxes to increase, Andy Burnham and his newly minted Chancellor, John Healey, would do well to take even a cursory look at the excessive abuse of the benefits system. While that goes against the natural instinct of the socialist, who are ever loath to suggest that the instruments of government may well be out of tune with the rest of us, it would serve them well.
Yes, a broader sweep through the ruinously expensive welfare state, the seeds of which were planted and watered by successive Labour governments, is needed. But I fear it would be foolish to think Eyelashes Andy is the man to do it.
His own particular brand of popularity, which, like most socialist operators, consists of taking from the productive to fund ever-growing handouts, prohibits a more constructive look at the system. He still has an easy win before him.
At the stroke of a pen, Mr Burnham could command that foreign nationals cannot receive Universal Credit. Undoubtedly, this would agitate the London lawyers, who would swiftly tut and huff dissapointedly, but it would be well received by the millions of hard-working Britons who struggle with the question: Why should my taxes be handed to foreign recipients?
Migrants Just Received £11.9bn of Universal Credit – That’s Not Even the Most Shocking Thing
A new set of figures has reignited one of Britain’s most politically sensitive debates: the relationship between immigration, welfare spending and access to Universal Credit.
Households containing at least one foreign national received £11.9 billion in Universal Credit during 2025, according to Department for Work and Pensions data obtained through a Freedom of Information request. The figure was up from £9.5 billion in 2024 and £7.5 billion in 2023.
The figure has quickly become a focus of political criticism, particularly as the government considers changes to immigration and settlement rules.
But there is an important distinction behind the headline. The £11.9 billion was paid to households containing at least one foreign national, rather than being a figure showing that £11.9 billion was paid exclusively to migrants. Universal Credit is assessed at household level, and eligibility depends on immigration status and other conditions.
The Department for Work and Pensions says a person generally needs to be British, Irish, have a right of abode, or hold an immigration status allowing access to public funds, alongside meeting the other Universal Credit requirements.
Even with that qualification, however, the scale of the increase has generated substantial political debate.
The £11.9 billion figure
According to analysis of the DWP data, payments to households containing at least one foreign national increased by approximately 25 per cent between 2024 and 2025.
The £11.9 billion figure represented around 15.6 per cent of all Universal Credit payments during the year, according to reporting based on the data. Approximately £7.7 billion, or 65 per cent of the £11.9 billion total, went to households classified as having claimants who were unemployed.
Those numbers have inevitably attracted attention because they arrive during an intense national discussion about the cost of the welfare system.
The government is already under pressure to explain how it intends to control welfare expenditure while maintaining support for people who are unemployed, disabled or on low incomes.
Immigration adds another dimension because not every migrant has the same legal status or access to public funds.
A person arriving in Britain on a visa with a “no recourse to public funds” condition, for example, is generally prevented from accessing most benefits. Other people with settled status or indefinite leave to remain may be eligible if they meet the normal Universal Credit requirements.
That makes the phrase “migrants received £11.9 billion” an oversimplification of what the underlying data actually measures.
The number that has attracted even more attention
The £7.7 billion associated with unemployed claimants is arguably the figure that has generated the strongest reaction.
Around two-thirds of the £11.9 billion total was associated with households categorised as jobless, according to reporting on the DWP figures.
For critics of the government’s migration policy, the figures raise questions about whether immigration has increased pressure on Britain’s welfare system.
The argument is particularly relevant because Britain experienced exceptionally high levels of migration during the years following the pandemic.
However, the Universal Credit data cannot by itself establish that migration was the cause of the overall increase in welfare spending.
There are many factors affecting Universal Credit expenditure, including the size of the claimant population, household circumstances, employment levels, earnings, housing costs and changes in eligibility.
The nationality figures therefore provide information about who is included among claimants, but they do not provide a complete explanation of why the welfare bill has changed.
The political timing is significant
The figures emerged at a particularly sensitive moment for Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
The government is considering changes to the rules governing indefinite leave to remain, which provides migrants with permanent settlement rights.
Under proposals reported in September, the standard qualifying period could increase from five years to ten years, while some categories of workers could face longer qualifying periods.
The proposals have generated disagreement within Labour itself, particularly over people who are already working in Britain in sectors such as social care.
That means the new Universal Credit figures have arrived in the middle of a much broader argument about Britain’s immigration system.
The questions being debated are not limited to welfare.
They include how many people Britain should admit, which skills should qualify for work visas, how long migrants should wait before receiving permanent settlement and what conditions should apply to access to public funds.
What the government says about eligibility
One of the most important facts is that foreign nationality does not automatically qualify someone for Universal Credit.
The DWP’s official methodology states that immigration status, rather than nationality alone, determines benefit entitlement for non-Common Travel Area citizens.
The department also checks immigration status through the Home Office’s Right to Public Funds system as part of the Universal Credit process.
This means that someone being recorded as a foreign national in the statistics does not necessarily indicate that they entered Britain recently.
A claimant could have lived in Britain for many years.
They could have indefinite leave to remain, settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or another form of immigration status that permits access to public funds.
Equally, a household can contain both British and foreign nationals.
That is why the £11.9 billion figure should not be interpreted as a direct calculation of “benefits paid to migrants” without explaining what the underlying dataset actually records.
A rapidly changing immigration picture
The welfare debate is also taking place against a changing migration picture.
Recent official estimates have shown a substantial fall in net migration from the exceptionally high levels recorded in the early 2020s.
That change matters because immigration policy operates over long periods.
Reducing the number of people entering Britain today does not immediately eliminate costs associated with people who arrived under earlier rules.
Similarly, tightening settlement requirements may affect future access to permanent status, but it does not necessarily change the eligibility of people who already possess a qualifying immigration status.
The Universal Credit figures therefore provide a snapshot of welfare expenditure during 2025 rather than a complete forecast of future costs.
Why the £11.9 billion number is politically powerful
Despite all those qualifications, the figure is politically significant because it provides a concrete number in a debate that is often dominated by estimates and projections.
£11.9 billion is a large sum in any discussion of public finances.
The increase from £7.5 billion in 2023 to £9.5 billion in 2024 and then £11.9 billion in 2025 also makes the trend particularly striking.
Critics can point to that increase when arguing that immigration policy and welfare policy cannot be considered separately.
Supporters of the existing system, however, can point to the legal eligibility rules and the household-based nature of the data.
They can also argue that the figures do not establish that foreign nationals are disproportionately dependent on welfare without additional analysis of employment rates, household size, duration of residence, immigration category and other factors.
Both sides of the debate therefore need to be careful about what the data actually demonstrates.
The wider welfare question
The controversy ultimately extends beyond immigration.
Universal Credit was designed to combine several benefits into a single system and provide financial support to people on low incomes as well as those who are unemployed.
The central policy challenge for any government is balancing adequate support with incentives and opportunities to enter or remain in employment.
That challenge becomes more complicated when the claimant population includes people with very different backgrounds and immigration histories.
The £11.9 billion figure therefore raises several questions for ministers.
How much welfare spending should be directed towards households containing foreign nationals?
What restrictions should apply to migrants on temporary visas?
Should access to permanent settlement be linked more closely to employment and tax contributions?
And how should the government ensure that welfare rules are consistent across different categories of residents?
Those are policy questions rather than conclusions that can be answered by a single statistic.
A debate that is unlikely to disappear
The latest figures will almost certainly continue to feature in arguments over Britain’s migration and welfare systems.
For Reform UK and the Conservatives, the data provides another opportunity to question Labour’s approach to immigration and benefits.
For Labour, the challenge is to demonstrate that the welfare system is properly controlled while explaining how immigration rules interact with access to public funds.
For the government, the issue is particularly difficult because changing settlement rules can have long-term consequences, while immediate restrictions may affect people already working and living in Britain.
The £11.9 billion figure is therefore important, but the headline does not tell the entire story.
It describes payments made during 2025 to households containing at least one foreign national. It does not mean every pound went directly to a migrant, nor does it show that every foreign national in the welfare system was unemployed.
What it does show is that households containing foreign nationals accounted for a substantial share of Universal Credit expenditure, and that the amount increased significantly over the previous two years.
That makes the figure relevant to the national debate over welfare, migration and public finances.
The more difficult question is what should be done with that information.
Answering that requires looking beyond the headline number to immigration status, employment, household circumstances, benefit eligibility and the government’s broader fiscal position.
As Britain debates the future of its immigration system, the £11.9 billion figure is likely to remain one of the numbers at the centre of the argument.