FOR most people in this country, it goes without saying that state support should be for Brits who really need it.

We’re a very generous nation – but we simply can’t afford to support everybody, and certainly not those who aren’t British citizens.

It should be a basic principle of coming to this country that you contribute more to our economy and society than you cost.

Yet according to figures released yesterday by the Government, nearly 1.3 million foreign nationals are now claiming Universal Credit.

We don’t have all the details, but if those people are paid the basic rate, that’s more than £6 billion, every year, on benefits for foreign nationals.

£6 billion almost what we spend on our entire prison system, and it would be enough money to train and hire more than 60,000 new NHS nurses.

Clearly, something has gone badly wrong.

And just 4 in 10 foreign nationals on Universal Credit are working, meaning that the majority of recipients – more than 750,000 – are not paying into the system at all.

At a time when millions of people across the country are struggling to keep their heads above water, this is a scandal, and it must end.

How can it be that the Government can’t find the money to help pensioners with their heating bills, but can find billions to spend on benefits for foreign nationals?

Is it any wonder that so many Brits have lost faith that this country’s Government works for them?

Today’s figures also raise serious questions about who we’re allowing to come to this country, and how many of them are actually contributing.

Those who come to Britain must put in more than they take out. Clearly, far too many people don’t.

So why are those foreign nationals able to claim benefits?

Because under the current system, after just five years in the UK, migrants are eligible for Indefinite Leave To Remain – or ILR.

Once they have ILR, they’re able to stay indefinitely in the UK, as the name suggests.

But crucially, they’re also able to claim benefits like Universal Credit, access social housing, and use the NHS for free.

This is an active choice. Earlier this year, the Conservatives put forward a proposal to remove state support from those with ILR.

It was a simple policy – no benefits, no free access to the NHS, and no social housing without British citizenship.

It would have saved billions of pounds, and created a fairer system that works in the interests of the people who need it most.

We also proposed changing the rules around ILR, extending the eligibility period from 5 years to 10.

We argued that those who have come to this country and not contributed enough – or who are actively damaging Britain by, say, committing crimes – should be made to leave.

Those who stay should not be able to rely on state support, particularly at a time when budgets are so stretched.

Yet the Government voted down these proposals, choosing to continue paying billions a year to foreign nationals, while also insisting that we need to tighten our belts and cut spending.

They’ve promised to launch a consultation on ILR in the Autumn. I’m not holding my breath.

At every step of the way, this Government has voted to continue the current system, which allows more than a million foreign nationals to claim Universal Credit.

But perhaps the most scandalous thing of all is that the public has never voted for a system like this one.

Time and time again, the British people have voted for a selective, limited migration system, which only allows people to come and stay here if they’re able to pay their way.

That means no benefits for foreign nationals and a system which selects for people who are actually likely to pay into the system, and removes those who don’t.

Time and time again, the public has been let down by governments of both parties.

Unless and until we can bring back control of our borders, millions of people won’t trust politicians when it comes to immigration – and they will be right not to.