12-02-2025
Gaza immigration judge's father is ex-Guardian journalist who campaigns against Israel online
The immigration judge who made the controversial decision to grant a Palestinian family
On Tuesday,
The judge's father, Richard Norton-Taylor, who spent years writing for
Last March, the 80-year-old journalist, who now writes for the Declassified UK website, endorsed a petition on X calling for Haringey council, in north London, to 'stop supporting
Two months later, he urged his followers on X to write to their MPs demanding that the Government '
In December, he reposted a video of a huge banner covering Parliament Square by Led By Donkeys, the campaign group,
Meanwhile, in a video for BBC Two's Daily Politics show in January 2016, he had argued that Britain should return
The decision to grant the Gazan family of six permission to live in Britain is not the first controversial judgement made by Hugo Norton-Taylor.
Last November, he granted an Albanian man the right to stay in the UK because of his 'very close bond' with his Portuguese wife's children, despite them being from her previous marriage to a Romanian.
Ramazan Morina, 27, had smuggled himself into Britain when he was 16, but failed in an attempt to claim asylum in 2014 and again five years later, MailOnline reported.
The
He had developed a 'very close bond' with Soraia Dias's children, a social worker told the tribunal, meaning separation would cause them emotional harm despite the biological father still playing an 'active' part in their lives.
The judge told the hearing he placed 'significant weight' on the social worker's conclusion that sending Mr Morina back to
Home Office lawyers argued that there was no reason why Ms Dias and her children could not move to Albania with Mr Morina, but the hearing was told that she wanted to remain in the UK in order to be close to her ex-husband's extended family.
The judge concluded that it was in the 'best interests' of the children to have 'both biological parents' in their lives along with Mr Morina.
Richard Norton-Taylor has been contacted for comment.
