Children are welcome throughout the day, though obviously please be considerate during the parliament meeting and take them out of the room if they get restless.
Agenda for the day is as follows:
1) Meeting in the Houses of Parliament from 11am to 1pm
Please allow for some time to get through security.
The panel includes
- Anne Longfield, Children's Commissioner for England
- Colin Yeo, barrister and founder of the free movement blog
- David Hanson, Shadow Immigration Minister
- Manjit Gill QC, lead barrister on the MM and Bibi cases
- Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party
- Speaker from Bright Blue, a conservative thinktank
Topics to be covered include updates on the MM and Bibi cases; interaction between EU treaty rights, families and human rights; impact of family immigration on children; and hopefully what the Green and Labour parties propose they will do to help divided families.
Register here if attending the parliament event: http://
Morning event organised by MRN, with some support from BritCits.
2) Divided Families (BritCits, JCWI and MRN) demo outside the Home Office (Marsham St, London) from 2pm to 3pm, followed by
3) Drinks and networking session at the Red Lion pub, right by Westminster tube station, until late.
Pls also bring banners, posters (maybe photo of the family member who cant be there), design your own or print from here: https://www.facebook.com/
This is a great opportunity to meet others impacted by these rules, make new friends, meet old ones, show solidarity and make your voice heard.
The more the merrier, so please do invite others.
I understand that the affect of these laws on children is important, but please remember to also represent those of us who just wish to live together without children.
ReplyDeleteSadly I can't make it to represent myself and my partner in the US, but I'm hoping we'll be fairly represented at the meeting, not just those with children involved.
Hi - the day is absolutely not just about those with children. There are many couples who don't have kids who are also divided. Some of whom want children but can't cos of these rules, and others for whom kids don't enter the picture. The day is also about those unable to sponsor elderly relatives. All have the exact same right to live together as a family, especially given no recourse to public funds imposed on non-EEA family members.
DeleteKids however bring a more poignant angle which conencts even with those who are not impacted by immigration to speak out against these rules. Additionally, kids have rights under the UN Convention on Rights of a Child which UK is a signatory to, and s55 requiring the best interest of children to be considered, which the UK govt blatantly ignores. So these additional points help to garner more support against the rules.