Nigel Farage has defended banning dependants for migrant care workers, saying it’s wrong to prioritise foreign families over British taxpayers struggling to access GPs.

Speaking to GB News, the Reform UK leader declared Britain “can’t afford” to provide health care and education for dependants of migrants over Britons.

Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Farage announced the party would “abolish indefinite leave to remain” in a crack down on legal migration.

He stated: “We will not only say that these people do not qualify for indefinite leave to remain, we will abolish indefinite leave to remain as a category in this country”.

Doubling down on his policy, the Reform leader told GB News: “Nearly a million people over the course of the next few years will qualify for indefinite leave to remain, they are part of the Boris wave. Once they get that status, they can bring dependants.

“Once they get that status, they can access fully all the welfare benefits in this country. Already, one in six on Universal Credit are foreign born people. This is going to bankrupt us.”

Highlighting that his priority is the British people, he added: “So what we’re saying is people won’t get indefinite leave to remain and that benefits and welfare should be for UK citizens.

“The separate debate is we need foreign workers, and if we do, that’s fine, they can come under a special visa, they can work. But they can’t bring dependants. They can’t be a burden on the system.”

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Pointing out that there is a particular “crisis” within the care sector, GB News Political Correspondent Olivia Utley pressed the Reform leader on “how he will get the right number of workers to staff the care” if female workers cannot bring their children.

Mr Farage explained: “By having a proper visa system in Britain, we become like most normal countries around the world. Coming to work should not automatically entitle you to settle and bring your family.

“We can’t afford it. If someone comes to work in the care sector and brings children with them, we have to educate them, we have to provide them with health care. We can’t do it and it’s all the wrong way around.”

Defending Britons further, he stated: “All the questions I get from journalists ask ‘what about people coming into Britain from abroad?’, well what about people here?

“What about people here who can’t access GP services because of the exploding population, what about people here who were paying their taxes so that benefits can go to those that weren’t born in this country? So we’re asking for a rethink in terms of how we do this.”

Criticising the impact of mass low-skilled workers into Britain, Mr Farage said Reform will “find care workers in Britain and from around the world who come without dependents”.

He stated: “Mass unskilled and semi-skilled foreign labour has driven wages down so that the minimum wage becomes the maximum wage. And if people were able to see a benefit to them of coming off welfare payments and going to work, you’d find more people going to work.

“We’re doing five year renewable visas. So if you’ve done your five years, you’ve obeyed the law, you’ve paid your taxes, and we renew your visa for five more years, you’ve proven that you can be an asset to this country.”