Foreign nationals could be banned from claiming benefits under Tory plans in a bid to save Britain £47billion.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride has unveiled plans to cut welfare, foreign aid, and the size of the civil service to save public finances.

In his speech this morning, Sir Mel warned that the UK cannot “keep spending money we simply do not have”.

The proposals included ending the right of people with “low-level” mental health conditions to claim sickness benefits.

Individuals would instead be offered support and treatment to get them back to work.

Sir Mel said the welfare cuts would save £23billion, saying “what is needed is treatment and support, not simply cash”.

Foreign nationals would be barred from accessing the welfare system, which could affect upwards of half a million current claimants, who would also lose their right to access social housing in the future.

Mr Stride’s plans will reform the current benefits system, placing tighter restrictions on housing benefits and further requirements to look for work.

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Sir Mel said: “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.”

Mr Stride said the Conservatives will back “entrepreneurs, businesses and the hard-working millions” and will “always be there for business”.

The Tories will also scrap net zero schemes to “stop spending billions on Ed Miliband’s vanity projects which are simply driving up bills”.

The Shadow Chancellor pointed to what the “Government is doing” with taxes for economic uncertainty.

He said: “Just look at what this Government is doing. Constantly pumping up the size of the state, increasing spending by £100billion a year, that’s 10 times what they said in their manifesto.

“And they said their plans involved hardly any tax increases, but what have they done? A £40billion tax raid, most of it on jobs, and now that Rachel Reeves has blown a vast hole in the public finances, yet more tax rises await.

“In fact, under Labour, nothing is safe from the taxman.

“Not your job, not your home, not your pension, not your farm, not your business, not even that which you simply wish to pass on to your own children. You name it, they’ll tax it, and we say enough is enough.”

Sir Mel vowed never to repeat the failure of Liz Truss’ mini-budget, saying tax cuts would be “laser-focused”.

The Shadow Chancellor said: “Now I am a realist and we must recognise that this Labour Government will be leaving huge debts behind. So I cannot simply say we will use all those savings to spend more elsewhere or cut taxes.

“We will bring taxes down, we must, but we will only do so when it is affordable, just as Nigel Lawson did, because we know where the alternative path leads. We saw that with the mini-budget in 2022. So let me be clear.

“The Conservative Party will never, ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for. We will and will always be the party of fiscal responsibility.”

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