Member

I note that the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and my noble friend Lady Chakrabarti have spoken in support of that, but I think that Part 5 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 has already set out Parliament’s view of what the public interest requires in immigration cases engaging the qualified right to respect for private and family life under Article 8. As the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, has mentioned, it requires the courts to give due weight to this public interest when deciding such cases. This means that the public interest in family migrants being financially independent and being able to speak English, as required by the Immigration Rules, is set out in primary legislation.