Starmer vows to close legal loophole after Gaza family wins right to UK residency

Keir Starmer has vowed to close a legal loophole on Gazans being given the right to live in the UK after a Palestinian family were allowed to come to Britain by applying through a scheme designed for Ukrainian refugees.

During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attempted to put blame on the government for the decision.

A family of six, who have been granted anonymity, were allowed to join their brother in Britain after a ruling – the first time refugees from a country other than Ukraine have used the scheme.

An immigration judge ruled that the Home Office’s original rejection of their application breached their human rights.

Starmer responded to the Tory leader saying: “I do not agree with the decision. She is right, it is the wrong decision. She hasn’t quite done her homework because the decision in question was taken under the last government.”

Badenoch said the judge’s decision was “completely wrong, it cannot be allowed to stand”.

She told the Commons: “He talks about a decision made under the last government, it was not made by the last government, it was made by the courts. The issue we are discussing today is about judicial decisions.

“We cannot be in a situation where we allow enormous numbers of people to exploit our laws in this way. There are millions of people all around the world in terrible situations. We cannot help them all, and we certainly cannot bring them all here.”

The Prime Minister replied: “I’ve already said the Home Secretary has already got her team working on closing this loophole. We don’t need to wait for that. We’re getting on with that because we’re taking control.

“The [Conservatives] lost control of immigration. We had nearly a million people come into this country, had an open borders experiment, and on Monday of this week, they voted against increased powers to deal with those that are running a vile trade of people smuggling. Same old Tories, open borders, empty promises.”

The Palestinian family of six, comprising a mother, father and their four children who were aged 18, 17, eight and seven in September, were displaced after their home was destroyed by an airstrike in the Israel-Hamas war.

They applied for entry to the UK using the Ukraine Family Scheme to join the father’s brother, who has lived in the UK since 2007 and is a British citizen, but this was refused in May last year after the Home Office concluded the requirements of the scheme were not met.

The Tory leader also attempted to keep up criticism of Attorney General Richard Hermer KC, quoting Labour peer Lord Glasman’s remarks after he labelled him a “progressive fool.”

The PM responded by reminding Badenoch that ex-Attroney General Suella Braverman, who she served under, had been sacked for a national security breach while she was Home Secretary.