I agree that some of the proposed changes will be open to challenges however I do not agree that the changes require primary legislation. Which changes are you referring to exactly?bobgz wrote:The point is that some of the proposals in the consultation will require primary legislation as they are not just immigration rules the government is seeking to overturn but Supreme Court decisions. Some of them could be open to fresh challenges too, for instance the third party maintenance change comes from an interpretation of the existing rules by the Supreme Court however it left open the issue of Article 8. I suspect if the rules were changed to close that an appeal to the court would be likely.
The ECHR and the Human Rights Act are pretty clear, British citizens have the right to have their spouse join them in the UK, only under clear public interest grounds (recourse to public funds) is there an exception to that.
The right to a family life is not absolute and 'recourse to public funds' is not the only public interest ground on which this right can be interefered with.