The Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice has described the granting of visas for overseas workers to care homes who don’t exist as "woeful incompetence from the Home Office".
It comes as new figures have revealed that one in every four foreign care workers, up to 25,000, are working illegally in the UK.
Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Neal, found that the Home Office had issued 275 visas to a care home that did not exist and over 1,000 visas to a company that stated it had only four staff when given a license to operate.
This follows reports that more than 700 foreign nurses in Britain are treating patients despite being under investigation for not actually being qualified.
Richard Tice hit out at the 'incompetence' of the Home Office and NHS
GB News
A Home Office spokesman has said in a statement: "Care workers make a vital contribution to society, but immigration is not the long-term answer to our social care needs.
"That is why measures due to be laid in parliament will cut the rising numbers of visas granted to overseas care workers and address significant concerns about high levels of non-compliance, worker exploitation and abuse within the sector of overseas workers.
"It is also why the government has announced that providers in England will only be able to sponsor migrant workers if they are undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission."
Richard Tice raged at the revelation and said the UK "stupidly" makes the country's healthcare a "freebie".
The Reform leader added that having "cheap, low skilled immigration" is "depressing British wages" and causes "a huge burden" on Britons and our public services, meaning we "pay the price".
He said: "Public services get worse, housing rents go up and the quality of life in our beloved country deteriorates - it's got to stop."
The Home Office had issued 275 visas to a care home that did not exist
Getty
Speaking on GB News, Richard Tice stated: "What we do know is that this is just yet more utter woeful incompetence from the Home Office, from various authorities, and indeed the NHS with regard to nurses that are not qualified.
"Wherever you look, there is just so much incompetence. You actually have to describe it as gross, gross negligence.
"It's appalling and not only are we suffering, but we're also paying the bills for this, and all our quality of life is deteriorating. And yet, no one in the establishment or in Parliament seems to care at all about this stuff."
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Tice fumed: "And as for these fake care homes, how can anybody be so useless not to check the care home exists. How does this happen? It's just mind boggling.
"People at home will be frankly throwing something at the television. The only common factor is utter incompetence and negligence. That's the point and it's us paying the bill."
Richard Tice says the visa scandal is 'appalling'
GB News
Outlining the impact on the NHS and Britons, Tice explained: "If you import cheap, low skilled or unqualified overseas labour, you depress British wages. So big business makes off handsomely and it's the decent British worker who gets utterly shafted.
"We've been lied to decade after decade, by the establishment, by the Labour Party, by the Conservative Party.
"The Prime Minister says the economy is recovering, he's got a plan. No, it's not. We're in recession. We've actually been going down for seven quarters in a row, the worst since record began in the mid 50s.
"It destroys the whole of this mass immigration nightmare. People have got to become economically active. People who are not working, who can work, should work and shouldn't be able to claim benefits."