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Racist Rupert Lowe tries to come for ‘foreign nationals’ claiming DWP benefits

Former Reform MP and perpetual racist Rupert Lowe has crashed into another social media storm after his comments on Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit claimants. Lowe unleashed a series of tweets scaremongering and fanning the flames of anti-immigrant sentiment:

Of course, it’s entirely lost on multi-millionaire Lowe that immigrants, regardless of nationality, are humans who require money to live. As such, their continued survival – be it via lofty expenses like food, bills, rent – costs money. They’re not savings to be made by millionaires who wouldn’t know a functioning budget if it shoved them backwards through a food bank.

Not to be deterred by a lack of basic humanity, Lowe continued:

This is called xenophobia and, as Rupert well knows, is a racist and nationalist viewpoint. Nonetheless, Lowe then said:

Despite himself being a waste of air, Rupert apparently believes that if someone is impacted by the cost of living or financial crisis after financial crisis, they should starve and/or ‘go home’ – not their homes in the UK, those other homes that they left for whatever mysterious reasons.

DWP and stereotypes

Now, Lowe’s comments are obviously racist bullshit. But, they’re racist bullshit that tries to weaponise the very existence of anyone that isn’t white and British. According to the DWP themselves, as of January 2025 76.2% of people on Universal Credit (UC) were white. 10.4% were Asian/Asian British, 6% were Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, 2.9% were of mixed ethnic origin, and 4.4% were “Other.”

The DWP also note that their information on ethnicity is optional, and they state that because of this:

Universal Credit ethnicity statistics should be treated with caution due to a degree of non-completion.

Any existing figures are not a full picture of an ethnic breakdown. And, apart from anything else, the fact that, for example, Asian people are considered the same as Asian British people skews the data by lumping together ethnicity with nationality. The incomplete data that does exist from the DWP is not racially literate enough to provide a realistic picture of who uses UC, and how.

On top of that incomplete data, a whopping 37% of people on UC were actually employed – meaning they make so little money that the government is required to top up their wages. That should be a national outrage: why is it possible for people to be in work, but to still not receive the money they need to live?

Overwhelming majority

And, as the Canary’s Steve Topple reported there are more statistics from the DWP which shine a damning light on Lowe’s comments:

On 15 July, the DWP published it latest stats on Universal Credit. These showed that the overwhelming majority (83.6%) of Universal Credit claimants were British citizens.

Whilst this sheds a little more light on the breakdown of ethnicity v nationality when it comes to DWP claimants, it’s still something that right-wing media have seized upon as a talking point. As Topple reported, the figure that has been waved around of over 1 million “foreign nationals” on UC is false. Instead, three-quarters of those “foreign nationals” are EU citizens who hold settled status or indefinite leave.

Of course, when using the phrase “foreign nationals” Lowe is clearly intending to call to mind Black and Brown people. Whilst some of his ire may well be directed at EU citizens, the racial dimensions of his remarks are obvious. Instead, the broader point here is that Lowe is part of a concerted effort from right-wing figures and media to write off immigrants – of any sort – as spongers who come to the UK for the good life.

Reality bites

Unfortunately for Rupert and the rest of the right-wing talking heads, that argument isn’t going to fly anymore. That’s partly because Lowe hasn’t made a name for himself as the brightest spark. Just days ago, he breathlessly rushed to his social media to report a boat full of illegal migrants that he’d seen with his own eyes! However, the hapless Lowe was soon forced to backtrack when it emerged it was just a group of rowers:

Never mind Rupert, it’s the thought that counts eh? Don’t worry, no one will make fun of you:

Whilst it’s true that we need a fuller picture of the data, let’s be clear about one thing: it does not matter if immigrants need support from the government to live. Nobody should be falling for this racist nonsense, and particularly not from a man who can’t tell a group of migrants struggling to survive from a group of charity rowers.

And, for that matter, nobody needs financial advice from a multi-millionaire who isn’t dog-whistling racist rhetoric about migrants, as much as he is screeching full pelt.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot

By Maryam Jameela

This post was originally published on Canary.