Poland tells its citizens to cash in on British benefits before returning home

Poland has encouraged its citizens living in the UK to earn money from Britain’s welfare system before returning home.

Writing on Powroty, a website for those planning to return from abroad, the Polish government advised: ‘When leaving the UK, it is worth considering whether you are eligible for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

‘Unemployment benefit in the UK is higher than the equivalent benefit paid in Poland. It is important to apply before you leave. ‘You will not be able to start the aid process when you return to Poland.’

Post-Brexit, European Union citizens with settled status before December 2020 can claim benefit payments when they move to a country within the EU for up to three months.

Even though they are not looking for work in the UK, they will still be able to benefit from hundreds of pounds in benefits at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Powroty offers clear instructions on how to apply for benefits and transport them to Poland.

Tory work and pensions spokeswoman Helen Whately said: Telegram: ‘Britain has become known worldwide for our soft-touch outreach brochures.

‘While other countries are advising their citizens on how to play interests in the UK, it is clear how desperately broken our system is. ‘We have become a laughing stock.’

With Poland’s increasing prosperity, the government said citizens were leaving Britain for a better life.

A spokesman said Poland ‘offers attractive business opportunities; The fact that the Polish economy has achieved uninterrupted and dynamic economic growth over the last 28 years; the opportunity to live and work among friends and family; and high levels of public safety’.

Thousands of Brits are moving to Poland because of the Eastern European country’s cheap cost of living and rapid economic growth.

In the mid-2000s, driven by the offer of a better life, the number of Poles in Britain rose from 94,000 in 2004 to close to one million in 2016.

But in the years since the UK left the EU, the number of Poles moving to Britain has decreased and now record numbers of Britons are moving to Poland.

Poland’s economy is among the strongest in Europe, growing by an estimated 3.5 percent this year, while the UK economy grew by just 1.3 percent.

The number of Britons moving to Poland increased by 340 per cent between 2015 and 2024, ahead of countries such as Malta and France where British expats traditionally emigrate.

In 2023, Poland’s Brexit-hating prime minister, Donald Tusk, boasted that “Poles will be richer than the British by 2030” because “it’s better to be in the EU.”

A UK Government spokesman said: ‘The Withdrawal Agreement is a reciprocal arrangement negotiated by the previous government and is not a mechanism to maximize claims on British taxpayers.’

They added that only a small number of people living outside the UK are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.

A Polish government spokesman said: ‘Individual decisions to return to Poland are based on grounds other than the possibility of receiving jobseeker’s allowance, including the jobseeker’s allowance available to eligible EU citizens who have lawfully paid insurance contributions during employment under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.’