KEIR Starmer will close down the legal route that allowed a Palestinian family to settle in the UK.
On Monday, the Prime Minister set out plans to significantly reduce net migration as Labour seeks to head off the electoral threat from Reform UK.
Under the White Paper proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship, but so-called “high-contributing” individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Meanwhile, skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
Under the proposals, which have been widely condemned as “cruel”, the Labour Government is also set to curb judges’ powers to block deportations – tightening legislation that allows courts to grant asylum to foreign criminals and illegal migrants under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) in “exceptional circumstances”.
The loophole allowed a Palestinian family from Gaza to be granted the right to live in the UK after applying through a scheme meant for Ukrainian refugees.
The Palestinian family, a mother, father and four children aged seven to 18, had seen their home destroyed by air strikes and were living in a Gaza refugee camp.
The family used the Ukraine Family Scheme in January 2024 on the basis that it best fitted their circumstances and that their situation was so “compelling and compassionate” that their application should be granted outside its rules.
The Prime Minister also said in his speech announcing the plans that he does not think it is necessary to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to continue his crackdown, as he recognised the use of international agreements to tackle illegal migration.
Asked at a press conference if going further on immigration would require “disentangling ourselves” from the ECHR, Starmer said: “No, I don’t think that that is necessary.
“I also remind myself that the international agreements we’ve signed have given us the basis for the deals that we’ve struck on illegal migration.
“You can’t strike those deals with other countries to work more closely together on law enforcement, to smash the gangs and to work on returns agreements – which is what we want to do – if, in the next breath, you’ll say you don’t believe in international law.”
But he also told reporters the Government wants to ensure the “right balance” is made in migration cases in relation to the national interest looking at Article 8 of the convention, the right to private and family life.
The Government is reviewing the use of Article 8 particularly focusing on cases where ministers have disagreed with conclusions reached in the courts, after several deportation attempts have been halted by the way the ECHR clause has been interpreted in UK law.
Starmer said: “There’s a balance set out in legislation already that needs to be adjusted, in my view, and that’s what we will do."
