Warning that UK workers are being left on welfare triggers demands for an end to the ‘open-borders, low-wage economic model’
People from overseas are at the heart of the UK workforce (Image: In Pictures via Getty)
Just one in five jobs added to payrolls between 2014 and the end of last year went to British nationals, according to a major new report that warns of Britons being “written off” by the welfare system. An analysis by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found British nationals accounted for only 734,000 of the 3.7million additional payroll jobs created during this period. EU nationals held 408,000 of the positions. The number held by non-EU nationals went up by about 2.5million.
The CSJ warns that annual spending on working-age benefits has increased by £50billion in real terms since 2019-20. The think tank argues “successive governments have relied on low-skill migration to fill jobs”. It claims that between January 2020 and December 2025, the number of payroll jobs held by British nationals fell in nine of the UK’s 12 nations and regions, but those held by non-EU nationals “increased in every one”.
Researchers found Scotland had the largest fall in “British national” payroll jobs, with a fall of 53,000. This compares with falls of 32,000 in the West Midlands, 31,700 in the South-east, 29,400 in the East of England, and 26,500 in London.
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith founded the Centre for Social Justice (Image: Getty)
The CSJ says the growth since 2020 “has been concentrated in sectors such as social care, hospitality and retail”. Health and social work “accounted for 29% of the increase in non-EU nationals on payrolls”. This was followed by roles in administrative and support services (16%), accommodation and food services (12%) and wholesale and retail (10%).
The think tank alleges the way migration is treated in official economic forecasts “encourages governments to prioritise increases in the size of the economy over improvements in living standards”. It points to how total GDP went up by 26% in real terms between 2006 and 2025 but “GDP per person grew by only 10%”.
Because Government decisions are based on forecasts for the following five, the CSJ claims, positive effects such as an “immediate increase in workers and tax receipts” are picked up but not “longer-term costs that emerge as migrants become eligible for welfare and grow older”.
The report claims Britain has imported workers “to expand headline GDP while allowing millions of people already here to drift away from the labour market”. It states that “employers have gained unprecedented access to overseas labour while taxpayers have absorbed the growing cost of domestic worklessness”.
Former Conservative work and pensions secretary Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: “The report shows that this crisis extends beyond the benefit system. The truth is that successive governments have used welfare over decades to compensate parts of the country for economic failure rather than creating the conditions for prosperity. Compounding this, ministers have repeatedly pulled the easy lever of immigration rather than providing a better deal for left-behind communities.”
The CSJ claims that about “6.7million people across England, Wales and Scotland now receive at least one out-of-work benefit” – equivalent to around one in six working-age adults.
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Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: “This report is a damning indictment of how Labour and Conservative governments have chosen an open-borders, low-wage economic model that writes off millions of our own people. Reform UK will end the welfare trap, halt mass immigration and get British workers back into jobs.”
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said: “Labour have sent unemployment up and up with their tax raids on businesses and endless red tape. And their failure to secure our borders means more and more low-skilled migrants are arriving.
“This combination means people are fighting harder and harder to get jobs. And Labour are making it worse by failing to offer good opportunities for young people to build good careers, preferring instead to let them walk into a life on welfare.”
A government spokesperson said: “The vast majority of this country’s workforce is made up of UK nationals, and we have introduced a number of changes including a new skills-based migration system to put British workers first and welcome the high-skilled talent that our economy needs. We are also reforming the welfare system by creating almost a million work opportunities for young people through our Youth Guarantee, while investing £3.5billion to help disabled people and those with long-term health conditions move closer to the labour market.”
WW3 fears explode as Russia attacks and sinks ships inside NATO territory
Fury as suspected drone bombardment branded ‘completely unacceptable’
A ship sunk near Bulgaria (Image: X)
A suspected Russian drone attack hit two ships off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, sinking one of the vessels. Bulgaria’s prime minister, Rumen Radev, said the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3 was sailing under the Maltese flag when it was hit by three drones some 18 nautical miles (20 miles) off the Bulgarian coast at around 1.30am (11.30pm BST) on Tuesday.
Its crew – seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis – were rescued and safely transported to the port of Varna after it was struck by three drones. Five crew members received medical assistance, but no one was seriously injured.
A second ship, the AZOV CONCORD, flying the flag of St Kitts and Nevis, was attacked about 17 nautical miles (19 miles) from the village of Krapets in north-eastern Bulgaria and sank. One sailor was rescued.
Mr Radev described the attacks as “absolutely unacceptable” and said that, although there was no “conclusive evidence” of Moscow’s involvement, he would summon Russian ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova for a meeting on Tuesday.
Mr Radev said: “Another attack on merchant ships in the immediate vicinity of Bulgarian territorial waters is absolutely unacceptable. Our permanent representative to NATO and our permanent representative to the European Union have been notified. I am scheduled to speak with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.
“We do not have solid and clear evidence to bring charges against any of the parties, but logic, as I have already stated, indicates that the result is in favour of the Russian Federation. Therefore, today I will summon ambassador Mitrofanova for a conversation.”
Russia launched massive aerial assaults on Ukraine overnight (Image: Getty)
Bulgaria has informed its representatives to NATO and the EU that it will seek international support to investigate the drone attacks and establish their country of origin, Mr Radev said. Sofia is also requesting assistance to strengthen air and maritime surveillance and improve its response capabilities.
Russia launched a massive overnight air assault on Ukraine, raising concerns about a potential threat to Polish territory and fuelling fears of a wider conflict. In response, Poland’s Government Centre for Security (RCB) issued an alert on X in the early hours of Tuesday, warning residents in the Lublin and Subcarpathian voivodeships.
The RCB said: “ATTENTION! Russian air attack on Ukrainian territory. The situation is being monitored. In the airspace of the Republic of Poland, Polish aviation is operating. Expect further communications. The RCB Alert has been sent to recipients in the Subcarpathian and Lublin voivodeships.”
Such attacks by Moscow could be intended to test NATO’s willingness to invoke Article 5, which states that an armed attack against a NATO ally is legally considered an attack against all 32 members of the alliance.
Russian strikes have been edging closer and closer to NATO territory, with Bulgaria being hit with a wave of incidents in its territorial waters.
On October 6, the crew of a merchant vessel went missing after two ships were struck in the Black Sea off the coast of NATO member Bulgaria – an incident Mr Radev described as a “gross violation of international law.”
One of the ships, the ALFA WATAN, sank, while the search for its 12 reported crew members was called off without success. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said a joint investigation with Bulgaria’s navy showed that Russia was behind the attack.
“The Ukrainian Defence Forces were conducting no operations in this part of the sea,” he said. Although Bulgaria does not border Russia or Ukraine, it occupies a strategic position on the Black Sea, home to major ports of both countries.
