Dozens of MPs call on Starmer to 'urgently' establish Ukraine-style visa for Gazans
In a letter seen exclusively by Sky News, the 67 MPs and Lords from across the political spectrum, have asked the prime minister and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to create a "Gaza Family Scheme" to "reunite [Palestinians] with their loved ones in the UK until it is safe to return".
"Just as the UK opened its doors to those fleeing persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong, we believe that the same generosity should be extended to Palestinian families," the letter says.
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the UK opened up the Ukraine Family Scheme allowing Ukrainian nationals to join family members in the UK and live, work and study in the UK for up to three years. Applications closed in February 2024.
Two years before, the UK opened the British National (Overseas) visa to allow Hong Kongers fleeing after a strict national security law was imposed by China to live in the UK for five years then apply for British citizenship.
The letter, sent to the PM on Sunday evening, has been signed by 35 Labour MPs and House of Lords members, including Marsha de Cordova, Clive Lewis, Stella Creasy, Richard Burgon, Kim Johnson, Afzal Khan, Rachael Maskell, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Andy Slaughter and Alex Sobel.
Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are among a handful of former Labour MPs suspended from the party last year to sign the letter, as are all four Green MPs, Lib Dem MPs Tim Farron and Layla Moran, several Northern Ireland MPs and SNP MPs Graham Leadbitter and Brendan O'Hara.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehquani, has also signed the letter.
Only one Conservative, former special adviser to William Hague, Baroness Helic, signed it.
In the letter, the politicians express their "grave concern at the immense suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza".
They accuse Israel of "shattering the temporary ceasefire agreement", weaponising starvation, and intensifying its "campaign of bombardment and military assaults, and targeting of people accessing humanitarian aid".
Labour MP Marsha de Cordova, who helped organise the letter with the Gaza Families Reunited campaign, told Sky News: "The Ukrainian Family Visa Scheme was the right response to a brutal war.
"Establishing a Gaza Family Visa Scheme would be an extension of those same principles, showing that this government is steadfast in its commitment to helping families experiencing the worst horrors of war.
"It is time for the government to act now to help British Palestinians get their loved ones to safety, enabling them to rebuild their lives."
The MPs also say in the letter that since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, at least 53,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and "the real death toll is likely to be exponentially higher".
They say a Gaza Family Scheme would allow Palestinians in Gaza to reunite with their families - "people they may never see again unless urgent action is taken".
The MPs say many Gazans who have attempted to come to the UK have "struggled to navigate the immigration system", especially as they are required to provide biometrics to apply for a visa but that is "impossible due to the destruction of the visa application centre in Gaza and blockade of the Rafah crossing".
They say there are a lack of safe zones or ways out of Gaza and some have constituents with family members who have fled Gaza to Egypt but "are stuck in limbo, with no access to schools or healthcare to begin the process of rebuilding their lives".
0:55
The letter adds that it would be a "vital step" towards addressing the UK government's "historical, present, and ongoing responsibility towards Palestinians in Gaza" and the UK has a "duty to take all necessary steps to hold Israel to account for its crimes".
Ghassan Ghaban, spokesperson for Gaza Families Reunited, said "family unity is an undeniable human right" and said Labour in opposition urged the Conservative government to do more to help British Palestinians get their relatives to safety.
"We are still waiting for the new government to do the right thing," he said.
"We, as Palestinians in the UK, simply want the opportunity to bring our loved ones from Gaza to safety, until it is safe to return.
"The UK welcomed those fleeing war and persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong with open arms. All we are asking for is the same treatment to be extended to our family members who have experienced unimaginable trauma as a result of Israel's genocide in Gaza."
He added there is "only a small number of Palestinians in the UK", and an even smaller number with family members in Gaza.
A government spokesperson said: "The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable.
"Since day one, we have been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
An Italian funeral for a Palestinian woman evacuated from Gaza becomes a call to 'make noise'
Funeral services were held Wednesday for a young Palestinian woman who died in Italy shortly after being evacuated from Gaza last week, exposing Italians to the desperate plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory. The funeral of Marah Abu Zuhri, attended by several hundred people, was interrupted repeatedly by chants of 'Free Palestine' and featured speeches by local authorities denouncing Israel's policy in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. As Palestinian flags fluttered, mourners stood in prayer before Zuhri's coffin, which was was draped in a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh scarf in the town of Pontasserchio, near Pisa. Zuhri, 19, had been evacuated to Italy with what Israel had called leukemia, but Italian doctors said they found no initial evidence of that and instead found 'profound wasting" and an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed condition. The United Nations and partners have said 22 months of war have devastated Gaza's health system, and food security experts have said the 'worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out.' Israel is moving ahead with a new military offensive on some of the territory's most populated areas, Mayor Matteo Cecchelli said he wanted to honor Zuhri's life with a public service in the town's Park of Peace, to 'make noise' about what he called a political and humanitarian 'catastrophe' in Gaza. 'The reality is that every day in the Gaza Strip, people are dying in the deafening silence of world governments," he said to applause. "We cannot remain silent today in this field of peace. There are those who have decided to make noise and have decided to be here to express their dissent towards this genocide.' Israel asserts that it abides by international law and is fighting an existential war in Gaza after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Israel has rejected genocide allegations related to its war in Gaza and called them antisemitic. Zuhri arrived in Italy overnight on Aug. 13-14 as one of 31 sick or injured Palestinians evacuated on an Italian humanitarian airlift that has brought nearly 1,000 ill Palestinians and their families to the country since the war began. Israel said she had leukemia and had been offered an evacuation earlier but claimed that Hamas had exploited her case, without offering evidence. The U.N. World Health Organization, which coordinates patients' evacuations, didn't respond to a request for comment. Gaza's Health Ministry has asserted that evacuations are often delayed or canceled by Israeli authorities. It says over 18,000 patients and wounded require treatment outside Gaza. Zuhri was admitted to the hematology ward of Pisa University's Santa Chiara Hospital, a known oncological hospital in Tuscany, but died there on Aug. 15. The hospital said she arrived with a 'very complex/compromised clinical picture and in a state of profound wasting.' She suffered a sudden respiratory crisis and subsequent cardiac arrest, which killed her, it said. The head of the hematology department at the Pisa hospital, Dr. Sara Galimberti, said Zuhri arrived with a diagnosis of suspected acute leukemia, but tests the hospital conducted came back negative, with no signs of the 'bad cells' that would indicate leukemia. Galimberti told reporters that Zuhri likely had been misdiagnosed, and that her condition was nevertheless seriously compromised and had been for a while. "The patient was in a complete condition of wasting, and completely bedridden despite being 19 years old,' she said. The hospital conducted a nutritional consultation and began a hypercaloric therapy and transfusional support, but Zuhri died before a full diagnosis was possible, Galimberti said. The doctor said the woman's mother, Nabeela Abu Zuhri, declined an autopsy on religious and personal grounds. The mother, who accompanied her daughter on the flight, spoke briefly at the funeral, thanking Italy for trying to save her daughter and asking for prayers for Palestinians. She said she was 'leaving a part of my heart, a part of me, with you' before returning to Gaza. The imam of Pisa, Mohammad Khalil, who translated for her, tried to calm the crowd and focus on Zuhri, but he also spoke of food shortages and hunger in Gaza. The United Nations has said starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest levels since the war began. The U.N. says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found with acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that no one in Gaza is starving, with 'no policy of starvation in Gaza.' AP reporting has found that malnourished children were arriving daily at a Gaza hospital, with some dying from hunger, including ones with no preexisting conditions. ___ Winfield reported from Rome.
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Recognising Palestine is not only reckless, it may be unlawful
The Government's defeat in court over migrants being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping seems to have alarmed the Government and shocked some commentators, particularly on the Left. But really it shouldn't. In case anyone else had not noticed, the expansion of judicial review over the years means that judges regularly block ministers from doing things. It usually boils down to whether the court thinks the government is being 'irrational'. Housing migrants in a way that breaches planning laws will have that effect. Other cases might potentially prove the same point. The Prime Minister's move to formally recognise Palestine as a sovereign state, goes beyond political misjudgement. It is administratively incompetent for the UK to recognise a state which has two rival Palestinian governments; in the West Bank where Mahmoud Abbas has not held elections for 20 years and which is in a state of fierce enmity with the terrorists who are the controlling force in Gaza. It is irrational and bitterly inconsistent with British post-war policy to empower Hamas to such an extent that they have been crowing loudly that the recognition being promised is justification for the most murderous pogrom against Jews since the Second World War, their savage slaughter of over a thousand civilians on October 7, 2023. Judicial review allows judges to assess whether a government decision is so irrational or unlawful that it must be struck down. Although not a judicial review, the result at the Bell Hotel appears to fulfil those criteria. This power has actually been expanding for decades. Just recently, a judge allowed a legal challenge to proceed against Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group, the first time a court has agreed to review such a designation under the Terrorism Act. Could the courts now intervene in Starmer's decision to recognise Palestine? Traditionally, foreign policy decisions have been protected from judicial interference, resting on ancient royal prerogatives. But that protection may not last for ever. In 2015, a court suggested that if a foreign policy decision was sufficiently irrational, it could be subject to legal review. We may now have reached that point with Palestinian recognition. This is because Starmer wants to recognise a 'state' not only with no clear government, but with no internationally recognised borders, and where any UK diplomatic representative to the new state visiting Gaza would be holding court with a proscribed terror group Hamas, which throws gay people off buildings and keeps hostages in such torturous and starving conditions that even Henry VIII's stomach would have turned. This is not just reckless, it may be unlawful. Worse still, the Prime Minister and his Attorney General, Lord Hermer, have been fixated with international law, or at least their selective understanding of it, to such an extent that they have been blind to the UK's national security interests. Their legal idealism is overriding basic strategic sense. And what's more, instead of focusing on the real issues facing Britain, a faltering economy, a failing welfare state and unsustainable immigration, Starmer is wasting time trying to placate a Parliamentary Labour Party he clearly can't control whilst also giving succour to extremists who have brought sectarian tensions to the streets of the UK for nearly two years now. If no one challenges the recognition of a Palestinian state in court, it will not be because it is a sound decision. It would probably just be because no one has raised the money to initiate the challenge. And I wouldn't place a bet on that. If it does get tested in court the Prime Minister may find himself embarrassed, and not for the first time.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fans convinced they've spotted Noni Madueke's missing Club World Cup medal in White House Oval Office - as US President Donald Trump hosted European leaders
Chelsea fans have claimed they have spotted Noni Madueke's missing Club World Cup medal in the White House, as Donald Trump hosted European leaders this week. The US president hosted Ukraine peace talks on Monday, with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer joining French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb around the Resolute Desk. They were joined by by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Amid the seriousness of the talks, football fans saw the lighter side by initially pointing out the presence of the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in the background. The US hosted the tournament last month with Chelsea emerging as the winners by beating reigning European champions PSG 3-0 in the final. Trump later revealed that the Blues had received a replica of the trophy, with the real one residing in the Oval Office. Having spotted the trophy, fans have now speculated that they have been able to see a winner's medal next to the trophy. Footage from the trophy presentation showed that Trump had received a medal from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, after the US president had distributed the honours to the Chelsea squad. Trump had been seen holding onto the medal, before placing it into his pocket after making his way off the stage. Fans had speculated at the time the spare medal had initially belonged to England winger Madueke, who had initially been part of Chelsea's squad at the tournament. Madueke had flown home during the competition to complete a £52million move to Arsenal and had therefore not been part of the trophy presentation. Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella recently contributed to the theory when asked about Madueke's medal. 'He [Trump] put it in his pocket,' the Spaniard stated. 'He has it there in the White House, very well placed.' Having seen an item located next to the World Cup Club trophy in the White House, fans have now claimed it is the medal that should have been presented to Madueke. 'That's Madueke's medal,' one fan wrote, after highlighting the gold object next to the trophy. 'Zoom the club world cup trophy and you go see Madueke's medal there,' another wrote. 'Noni's medal is trapped in the White House,' added a third. 'Madueke's world cup medal just casually on display in Trump's office is frying me,' another added. Daily Mail Sport, however, recently revealed that Madueke was expected to be mailed a Club World Cup's winners' medal. Trump's overall involvement in the Club World Cup ceremony came as a surprise to Chelsea players as they celebrated winning the tournament last month. As the players danced around at the MetLife Stadium, Trump continued to stand among them clapping and smiling, much to the confusion of just about everybody - especially Cole Palmer. Cucurella recently revealed his surprise, telling Spanish journalist Gerard Romero: 'We had been told that, as a rule, Donald Trump would come to present us with the trophy and that we couldn't lift it until he left. 'And of course, we were all there waiting for him to leave, but the guy didn't want to leave, and on top of that, we looked at him and he said, "Get him up, I'll stay here, and so on." 'And I wondered who would say anything to him, you know... I was scared s***less!' Trump had been given VIP treatment as he soaked up the action alongside First Lady Melania and FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the final at the MetLife Stadium. But Trump's crowning moment came after the final whistle when he took centre stage as the trophy was given to Chelsea. It was anticipated that Trump would step aside after giving the trophy to Chelsea captain James - as is customary. However, to the bewilderment of many Chelsea players, Trump remained on stage for the entire trophy lift. Palmer had been visibly confused with the England star spotted saying 'What's he doing?' to his team-mates. Speaking afterwards, the England star was honest but slightly more measured than his facial contortions had suggested. 'I knew he was going to be here but I didn't know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy so I was a bit confused, yeah,' he said. Trump had earlier presented Palmer with the golden ball award with the 23-year-old midfielder looking as equally baffled during that presentation. After presenting medals to both the victors and losers, the Trump was front and centre as the Blues hoisted the trophy. Following his presentation of the trophy to Chelsea, he was asked to leave the stage by Infantino but bizarrely chose to stay put.
