Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Nichols (above), president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said rules that prevent foreign spouses of UK citizens moving here would blight the lives of thousands of British children.

He called on the government to rethink the legislation, which came into force in 2012, that prevents people from outside the European Union settling in the UK with their British husband or wife unless they can show an annual income of at least £18,600.

“Anyone truly concerned for the family as the building block of society, and realistic about the mobility of British people today, must see both the folly of this policy and how it is an affront to the status of British citizenship,” he said. “The government’s intention with these new regulations is to cut the number of immigrants from outside the European Union. But in doing so, is it the government’s intention to penalise British citizens? To undermine marriages and to split up families?”

The archbishop said the policy was not consistent and showed a double standard.

“Other EU citizens are free to come and live in the UK with spouses from outside the EU,” he said. “And yet British citizens do not enjoy the same rights. The feeling of being victimised by one’s own government is a bitter pill to swallow.”

MPs are currently discussing the final details of the Immigration Bill, which is at the committee stage in the House of Commons.

It aims to bring forward a number of measures designed to crackdown on illegal immigrants and welfare tourists, including curbs on welfare entitlement and tighter checks on patients registering with GPs and applying for social housing.

—This story ran in full in the December 20-December 27 double print edition of the SCO, available in parishes until the New Year, priced £2. Don’t miss the Year in Review special section inside.