Families fear that James Cleverly’s proposals, which more than double the earnings threshold, could force separation and exile

 

There was growing anger on Saturday night over the government’s “love only for the rich” plans that would force thousands of British families to choose whether to split or go into exile.

James Cleverly, the home secretary, announced last week that a British citizen who wants to sponsor their foreign spouse to live with them in the UK will need to earn at least £38,700 a year to qualify for a family visa application.

 

The changes are expected to cut the number of family visas by about 10,000, according to reports of government briefings, adding to the thousands of “Skype families” who have already been separated by the previous rules where the British partner needed to earn an £18,600 salary.

 

Campaign group Reunite Families UK said that hundreds of people joined it last week after the announcement that would mean only about a quarter of British people would earn enough to sponsor a spouse.

“Everyone feels the rug has been pulled from under their feet,” said Jane Yilmaz, co-founder of the group. “They’ve dropped this bombshell just before Christmas, and it’s devastating for our families.

“We’ve got people who are separated because they couldn’t reach the £18,600 threshold. There’s no way those families are going to reach the new target,” Yilmaz said. “And we’ve got loads of members who are exiled who have always lived in hope they might be able to come back to their own country. The government harps on about family values and how important the family unit is, then they do this.”

Andreea Dumitrache, co-CEO at the3million, representing EU citizens in the UK, said the rise was “a blatant attack on families across the country”, and that ministers should scrap it. “Our British friends living in the EU will struggle to come back to the UK, with many having to choose between their own families abroad and a parent 

Conservative commentators and politicians have also voiced concerns, including Lord Barwell, Theresa May’s former chief of staff, who said it was “morally wrong and unconservative to say that only the wealthiest can fall in love, marry someone and then bring them to the UK”.

And in a piece for Conservative Home, the website’s deputy editor, Henry Hill, said the £38,700 figure “potentially stands to bar an awful lot of Brits from marrying a foreigner”. “It’s hard to imagine this was ever actually a priority,” he added.

 

FULL STORY

 

 

"It’s hard to imagine this was ever actually a priority,”

I think that's the crux of the issue. This is theatre, it may look good and distracts from the real issues.

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

Edited December 10, 20232 yr by Doctor Tom

Just because he had a  good schooling and a good university education it does not mean that common sense  comes with it as a free gift.

IMHO it seems as though the Conservative party, the cabinet and the PM, whoever he or she is this week, seem to be desperate to give the next election to the Labour party.

 

The Conservatives seem to have run out of barrels to scrape the bottoms of, judging by the current crop and the recent past performers.

 

AFAICS the Labour party is not much better either, which is not saying very much.

The rubber dingy across the channel starts to look like the way to go if you fall in love with a foreigner but don't  earn the required amount.

 

I've seen a lot of governments  come and go but for completely  misunderstanding public sentiment this one take the cake.

Classic anti Tory hyperbole from the guardian.

 

If you want to bring a spouse to the country you must be able to support them and yourself. The rules could be more refined but the sentiment is correct. 

 

 

39 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Classic anti Tory hyperbole from the guardian.

 

If you want to bring a spouse to the country you must be able to support them and yourself. The rules could be more refined but the sentiment is correct. 

 

 

So since the guardian published I, the opinion of the quoted Tories is to be ignored.

3 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

Would that be the same for a UK citizen marrying a UK citizen? 

 

No one who earns less than £38700 can get married or have a family.

 

You heard it here first.

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Classic anti Tory hyperbole from the guardian.

 

If you want to bring a spouse to the country you must be able to support them and yourself. The rules could be more refined but the sentiment is correct. 

 

 

The disagreements aren't with the sentiment.

 

The disagreement is with the £20100 rise in requirements.

53 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

Would that be the same for a UK citizen marrying a UK citizen? 

 

No one who earns less than £38700 can get married or have a family.

 

You heard it here first.

 

47 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

The disagreements aren't with the sentiment.

 

The disagreement is with the £20100 rise in requirements.

2 sharp and cogent posts.

9 hours ago, stevenl said:

"It’s hard to imagine this was ever actually a priority,”

I think that's the crux of the issue. This is theatre, it may look good and distracts from the real issues.

Thanks for pointing that out. I should have realised it myself, but on this occasion forgot to look behind the curtain.

6 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Would that be the same for a UK citizen marrying a UK citizen? 

 

No one who earns less than £38700 can get married or have a family.

 

You heard it here first.

If that were a fact, the British races would almost vanish in 2 or 3 generations, IMO. Rich people have less children than poor ones.

9 hours ago, Denim said:

The rubber dingy across the channel starts to look like the way to go if you fall in love with a foreigner but don't  earn the required amount.

 

I've seen a lot of governments  come and go but for completely  misunderstanding public sentiment this one take the cake.

It's on a par with the incredibly mistimed ( attempted ) introduction of the poll tax.

9 hours ago, billd766 said:

IMHO it seems as though the Conservative party, the cabinet and the PM, whoever he or she is this week, seem to be desperate to give the next election to the Labour party.

 

The Conservatives seem to have run out of barrels to scrape the bottoms of, judging by the current crop and the recent past performers.

 

AFAICS the Labour party is not much better either, which is not saying very much.

The saying " a plague on both their houses" might be appropriate now.

10 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

What a completely and utterly idiotic thing to say.

 

I own my own UK house (no mortgage approx £360,000 value if i sold it), my income (£1,600) would prevent me from being able to obtain UK benefits - simply put I do not need money from the government for either rent or food.

 

So explain to me exactly WHY I should not be able to bring my Thai wife to the UK when I need nothing from anyone ? 

 

IF - and I say IF - you do NOT own your house and need to pay £20,000 a year in rent, then I totally agree with you. A blanket ban on all those that do not need hand-outs is just plain idiotic !

 

This really would not stop me taking my wife in say 7 years to the UK anyhow - it was always my plan to sell my rubbishy old  UK 2 bed southern council house and buy some 4 bed detached property up north and put 100k in the bank to sponsor the wife.

 

That said, I am really thinking about getting her go there on a holiday and claim asylum - will take 5 years up for them to process her and all her appeals and by that time she'll probably be able to claim she is my carer too as i'll be in my 70's !

 

 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If that were a fact, the British races would almost vanish in 2 or 3 generations, IMO. Rich people have less children than poor ones.

Yeah right. How many kids have Smugg and disgraced former PM Johnson spawned.

More red meat for the poorly educated racists to chew on.

 

I'm afraid Cleverly does not live up to his name.

On 12/9/2023 at 5:15 PM, bradiston said:

 

 

14 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

Both the mean (£19,800) and the average (£29,700) pretax income for taxpayers in the UK are below the arbitrary figure Cleverly has set. It's possible to support a spouse on these sums - outside London and the SE. And it's barely possible to support a spouse on £38, 700 in London and the SE where rents are sky high.

This figure discriminates against the majority of UK citizens and is thus blatantly unfair as well as being unwise both strategically and electorally. 

Edited December 11, 20232 yr by Drumbuie

14 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

Those earning that much could be paying mortgages, car repayments and much more, some own their house and car outright, its just a stupid knee jerk because of opinions on immigration of some public voters, to get their vote. Pathetic attitude.

15 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

Point understood ... then again, as an American with British roots, I too would be blocked. 26,400 pounds based on last years USA total retirement income.

So does that also mean he will increase pensions to that amount as well????!!!! Otherwise when you retire you would have to divorce or move out of the UK too ffs!!!!🤪😜🤪😜🤪😜

16 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Conservative commentators and politicians have also voiced concerns, including Lord Barwell, Theresa May’s former chief of staff, who said it was “morally wrong and unconservative to say that only the wealthiest can fall in love, marry someone and then bring them to the UK”.

 

That's rich! It was Theresa May who first introduced the system.

 

So, not content with denying many Brits the pension increases that those living in the UK receive - despite them having paid into exactly the same system all their working life - they now deny the right of Brits to live in Britain unless they divorce their foreign, nasty, evil, asylum-seeking spouse.

 

I don't know what it is with British Home Secretaries. Theresa May began this blockade of Brits, then we had Priti Patel and Suella Braverman to complete the coven of witches. And now James Cleverley, ironically himself a descendent of immigrants - like the PM, Patel and Braverman - adds his name to the group. I thought the idea was to crack down on illegal immigrants, not to ban Brits who want to live in the UK from marrying foreigners.

15 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Classic anti Tory hyperbole from the guardian.

 

If you want to bring a spouse to the country you must be able to support them and yourself. The rules could be more refined but the sentiment is correct. 

 

 

So 2  brits can marry each other and live in the UK, even if they earn less than 38.7k quid, BUT a brit can't marry a foreigner and bring her to the UK if they earn less than that. Absolute hypocrisy & racism at it's best. The only way that this proposed law would cease to be racist and hypocritical would be for the law to forbid any couple (british or otherwise) from marrying and living in the UK if they earn less than 38.7k quid. Could you imagine the uproar if that was the case. Total idiots in govt in the UK too.

7 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The saying " a plague on both their houses" might be appropriate now.

A plague of suppurating boils would do nicely, especially around their collective asses, so they cannot sit down.

17 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

The limit is £38,700.  Frankly, if your income, pre tax, is below this, you have no business sponsoring anyone into the country.  

 

Cue (next) nursing crisis in the NHS.

I predict that even this shameful, evil government will backtrack on this, or obfuscate so that it never actually goes through.  It's just a shameless attempt to try and stop Farage and the Reform Party decimating the Tories at next year's election.  

I think its plain for all to see that they are focusing on the wrong type of immigration. They should be cracking down on those with no genuine connection to the UK who cost the country an absolute fortune. For some reason though, those in power just seem to want to ruin our country.