Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has announced that his party would prohibit foreign nationals from residing in social housing, requiring tenants to secure private accommodation within three months or potentially face deportation.
The party confirmed that this ban would be applied retrospectively, irrespective of how long an individual has resided in the UK, as part of Reform's plan to abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain.
In a 6,800-word Substack essay, the Clacton MP asserted that "anti-white racism was embedded into the state" and that equality-focused legislation amounted to a form of "social cleansing".
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Sky News: "People want hope. They don't want more anger, they don't want more division."
"There are serious challenges that this country faces. People have not felt listened to or heard," she said, adding: "People want better, they want more."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey stated that Farage was "pushing the politics of grievance and division that goes totally against our fundamental British values of tolerance and decency".
Farage argued that politicians had created "a backdoor for anti-white discrimination".
He reiterated his party's policy that foreign nationals would not be entitled to welfare benefits and that those in social housing would have three months to find alternative private rented accommodation.
Individuals who failed to relocate would lose their right to remain and could be deported.
Social housing, typically provided by housing associations or local councils, is generally more affordable and offers greater security than privately rented homes.
Currently, approximately 1.34 million households are on social housing waiting lists.
Certain groups are given priority, such as those at risk of homelessness, living in overcrowded conditions, having served in the Armed Forces, or having a local connection.
Migrants in the UK on student or work visas, those who entered the country illegally without permission to stay, and asylum seekers are almost never eligible for social housing.
Under Reform's proposals, EU citizens would also lose their entitlement to social housing, with the party planning to renegotiate post-Brexit agreements with the EU regarding aspects of citizens' rights that are "non-reciprocal".
Sarah Elliott, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, suggested that Reform's plan would lead to increased homelessness and place additional strain on councils.
She stated that "to remove people who are legally settled in this country from their homes is racist and morally wrong. This is another attempt to distract from the real cause of the housing emergency, which is the decades long failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes".
The stance on social housing mirrors that of Restore, the party established by Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe following his suspension from Reform.
Recent polls from the Makerfield by-election have indicated that Restore could be attracting support from voters at the expense of Reform.
A full list of all candidates standing in the Makerfield by-election can be found here.
In his article, Farage also stated that a Reform government would restrict schools to celebrating "accepted civic events" and that "pupils should not be forced to celebrate Black History Month, Pride Month and Refugee Week".
When asked by the BBC whether this would mean schools were prohibited from participating in activities for those events, a spokesman replied: "Under a Reform Government, the progressive indoctrination of our children will end."
Under this policy, schools would be permitted to mark St George's Day and other national celebrations, as well as D-Day.