ANAS Sarwar has been challenged on his silence after Keir Starmer explicitly ruled out a family visa scheme for Palestinians – despite Sarwar having urged the Labour Government to introduce one.
Speaking to The National in September last year, the Scottish Labour leader urged the UK Government led by Starmer to help Palestinians with family in the UK resettle here.
“Every possible effort must be made to help those in Gaza, including Palestinians with family in Britain,” he said.
“I encourage the UK Government to look at family reunion for Palestinians with family in Britain, including adaptations or alternatives to the current biometric requirement.”
Earlier this week, Starmer ruled out any such scheme after a judge ruled that a family of six from Gaza – whose home was destroyed by Israel – could join a relative who has lived in the UK since 2007.
The Palestinians had tried to apply to join their family in the UK under a settlement scheme designed for Ukrainians, but were rejected. An upper tribunal appeal was granted on human rights grounds, and they were then given leave to live in the UK.
The judge said that the absence of a resettlement scheme was "irrelevant”, and pointed to European Convention on Human Rights article eight, which guarantees a right to family life, in their ruling.
However, Prime Minister Starmer said he believed the decision was “wrong” and that his Labour Government would close the “legal loophole”.
Approached for a response given Sarwar’s support for a family resettlement scheme for Gazans, Scottish Labour asked to be sent Starmer’s comments. The party was provided with them in full, but did not respond again.
SNP depute Westminster leader Pete Wishart MP told The National: "Not for the first time, Anas Sarwar has some explaining to do.
“With Keir Starmer disgracefully using refugees as part of a grim political fight, Anas Sarwar needs to be straight about whether he supports his party signing up to the right-wing Westminster consensus on migration.
“He needs to be straight about whether his previous pledge on a refugee scheme for Gazans is just one more broken promise, given that Keir Starmer has now roundly ruled it out.
"Anas Sarwar can't keep hiding from the fact that the Labour Party are firmly shutting the door on refugees whilst holding the door wide open to the politics of Nigel Farage.
“If Sarwar stays silent on that reality, people will rightly conclude that he supports Labour's attempt to 'out Farage' Farage."
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman also accused Labour of “doubling down on its attempts to pander to Reform”.
“It seems that there are proverbial lines in the sand being drawn at Westminster on who is deserving of our support and who is not when it comes to fleeing conflict zones and humanitarian disasters,” she said.
“The UK should end arms sales to Israel and stop enabling the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza that has destroyed the lives of so many Palestinians.
“We should, instead, be offering support to those struggling to survive and rebuild their lives in amongst all the devastation.”
A Home Office spokesperson said of the case: "The Ukraine Family Scheme was clearly set out for Ukrainians. We have been clear that we do not agree with this judgment and we twice vigorously contested this case.
"As the Prime Minister made clear, article eight, the right to a family life, should be interpreted much more narrowly. It is for the Government and Parliament to decide who should be covered by the UK's safe and legal routes.”
