The exchange last week referenced reports of an appeal by the family against the decision by an immigration tribunal judge in September to dismiss their claim – but a further appeal was allowed by upper tribunal judges in January.
England and Wales’s most senior judge has written to Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch about an “unacceptable” exchange at prime minister’s questions, saying she was “deeply troubled” by the discussion on a Palestinian family’s asylum case.
Lady Carr asks party leaders to respect judicial independence, as Starmer calls decision to grant family asylum a ‘legal loophole’.
An upper tribunal judge then allowed the family to come to the UK on the basis of their right to a family life under article 8 of the European convention on human rights (ECHR).
Lady Sue Carr, the lady chief justice, criticised the Conservative leader’s questions about the case, in which a family from Gaza had applied through a scheme designed for Ukrainian refugees.
