Britain is now spending nearly £1 billion per month in welfare payments to migrant households, according to new government figures. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that £941 million in universal credit was distributed to households with at least one foreign national in March—a staggering increase from £461 million just three years ago.
The surge in payments comes as a direct consequence of mass migration policies championed by the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson, which led to a record-breaking net migration figure of 906,000 in 2023. Migrant households now account for 15.5% of all universal credit payouts. These benefits become available once individuals are granted residential or refugee status, but the true cost to British taxpayers is far higher when accounting for healthcare, education, housing, and other services.
A recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimated that housing asylum seekers—many of whom arrived illegally—now costs the government an additional £4.7 billion per year. The financial burden of mass migration is fueling political tensions as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government faces backlash over immigration policy and cuts to programs like the winter fuel aid for the elderly.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage didn’t hold back, saying, “Starmer is choosing migrant benefits over winter fuel for pensioners… Labour are ruining our country.” Starmer himself recently admitted that mass migration has failed to enrich the nation as promised, warning that Britain risks becoming an “island of strangers.”
Despite pledging to reduce net migration by the end of the decade, Starmer’s government has refused to exit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which critics argue blocks the UK from deporting illegal migrants effectively. Without cutting ties to the ECHR, many believe the crisis at the Channel will only worsen, with hundreds of migrants arriving daily.
