A nation's essential services — its hospitals, schools, care homes, and universities — are quietly held together by workers who crossed borders to fill gaps that domestic labor could not. Reform UK's proposed migrant worker surcharge would place a financial penalty on that arrangement, and experts across every affected sector are now asking the same ancient question that follows every blunt instrument of policy: who bears the cost when the architecture of care is made more expensive to maintain?
Reform UK's overseas worker levy would harm NHS, schools and universities, experts warn
Potential reduced access to healthcare and social care services, hospital overcrowding, and service disruptions affecting vulnerable populations dependent on care provision.