Former Tory MP John Redwood has slammed the case of an Albanian criminal allowed to stay in the UK due to his son's aversion to foreign chicken nuggets as an "absurd excuse".
The ex Business Secretary called for changes to British immigration law, stating that "chicken nuggets are not a suitable excuse to stay here."
He told GB News: "This is an absurd excuse to try and remain in this country.
"It may be a more extreme one but there are a lot of these case where people have no sympathy, these are criminals who come in and they trump up ways around our laws.
"In the last parliament I supported amendments to legislation that would not have required us to pull out of the whole of the ECHR.
"That is an extreme way of tackling this, it needs to be simply asserted in British law that this issue our court had to apply the British immigration law that said that chicken nuggets are not a suitable excuse to stay here."
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The case has drawn widespread attention after an immigration tribunal ruled it would be "unduly harsh" to deport the Albanian father due to his son's food sensitivities.
Albanian Klevis Disha, 39, entered the UK illegally and lied about his nationality before gaining citizenship through indefinite leave to remain.
He was later jailed for two years after being caught with £250,000 in illegal proceeds of crime, leading to threats of deportation.
A lower court ruled it would be "unduly harsh" for his 10-year-old son, known only as C, to either remain in the UK separated from his father or relocate to Albania.
The tribunal's decision centred on the child's "additional needs", including educational support and "sensory difficulties" with certain foods.
The only specific example provided to the court was that the boy would "not eat the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad" and would seize up and refuse to do anything.
Keir Starmer has backed the Home Office's appeal against the tribunal ruling, with the Prime Minister's official spokesman confirming he "absolutely supports" Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's challenge.
The upper court has already rejected the initial verdict and demanded the case be reconsidered.
"I think the upper-tier tribunal has already sent this case back to be considered again. It's hard to comment on specific cases beyond that," the Prime Minister's spokesman said.
"But the Home Secretary rightly appealed this case through the courts, and the PM absolutely supports that process."
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The ex Business Secretary called for changes to British immigration law, stating that "chicken nuggets are not a suitable excuse to stay here."
He told GB News: "This is an absurd excuse to try and remain in this country.
"It may be a more extreme one but there are a lot of these case where people have no sympathy, these are criminals who come in and they trump up ways around our laws.
"In the last parliament I supported amendments to legislation that would not have required us to pull out of the whole of the ECHR.
"That is an extreme way of tackling this, it needs to be simply asserted in British law that this issue our court had to apply the British immigration law that said that chicken nuggets are not a suitable excuse to stay here."
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The case has drawn widespread attention after an immigration tribunal ruled it would be "unduly harsh" to deport the Albanian father due to his son's food sensitivities.
Albanian Klevis Disha, 39, entered the UK illegally and lied about his nationality before gaining citizenship through indefinite leave to remain.
He was later jailed for two years after being caught with £250,000 in illegal proceeds of crime, leading to threats of deportation.
A lower court ruled it would be "unduly harsh" for his 10-year-old son, known only as C, to either remain in the UK separated from his father or relocate to Albania.
The tribunal's decision centred on the child's "additional needs", including educational support and "sensory difficulties" with certain foods.
The only specific example provided to the court was that the boy would "not eat the type of chicken nuggets that are available abroad" and would seize up and refuse to do anything.
Keir Starmer has backed the Home Office's appeal against the tribunal ruling, with the Prime Minister's official spokesman confirming he "absolutely supports" Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's challenge.
The upper court has already rejected the initial verdict and demanded the case be reconsidered.
"I think the upper-tier tribunal has already sent this case back to be considered again. It's hard to comment on specific cases beyond that," the Prime Minister's spokesman said.
"But the Home Secretary rightly appealed this case through the courts, and the PM absolutely supports that process."
Find Out More...