The number of migrants receiving direct welfare payments from the British taxpayer has hit a record high, government data revealed this week. Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed that some 15.5 per cent of all Universal Credit (UC) welfare claimants were foreign-born, or around 1.3 million out of a total of 8.4 million people, both of which were new record highs.
According to calculations from The Telegraph, the number of foreigners on the dole as of May was around 20,000 higher than a year prior. The largest cohort of recipients of Universal Credit — Britain’s principal welfare scheme for out-of-work or low-income people — was from the European Union, who were granted access to the UK welfare state under the Brexit withdrawal agreement negotiated by the former Conservative Party government. EU nationals accounted for 8.9 per cent of all UC claimants, or around three-quarters of a million people.
