Theresa May's immigration policy is ruining people's health.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michael-allen/theresa-may-immigration-policy_b_3769593.html


There is a terrible human cost to the government's immigration policy orchestrated by home secretary Theresa May.

Thousands of families are being torn apart and forced to live in separate countries as a result of a new £18,600 salary requirement for bringing a foreign spouse from a non-EU country into the UK.

This is more than almost half the population earns and if the couple have children, the salary requirement rises by thousands of pounds.

These new rules, introduced in July 2012, have played havoc with the physical and mental health of many Brits, their partners and children who are separated from each other or threatened with separation.

The murky depths of online xenophobia: http://michaelsjournalism.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/the-murkey-depths-of-online-xenophobia/
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The trouble and heartache to love your child.

http://ruyuna.tumblr.com/post/58615607801/the-trouble-and-heartache-to-love-your-child

http://cloudhunter.co.uk/post/51553893017/an-appeal-please-help-me-rescue-my-daughter

http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/anne-are-these-family-values-government_2606.html
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Swiss policies segregating asylum seekers draw outrage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23753875# 
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Proposals in a bill slipped out as Parliament broke for the Summer, and due to be debated as soon as MPs return, will gag the TUC, trade unions and every campaign group in the country in what can only be seen as a “chilling attack on free speech”.

The Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill will make organising the 2014 annual TUC Congress or organising a TUC national demonstration in the 12 months before the 2015 General Election into criminal offences.

http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/08/19/the-new-lobbying-bill-will-criminalise-even-basic-campaigning-by-trade-unions/
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My seeds and your grandchildren - funny and appropriate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivkw27k9J0c

Anne

Via Comments. Anne's story, in her own words, highlights the human cost of the rules - as well as their effects even on those who are financially secure : 

I don't know if I will ever see Scotland again.  

'I HAVE BEEN HERE in Australia for 45 years. I wanted to spend these later years in my home country which is Scotland. We got a shock when my Aussie husband of 43 years applied for a visa.

It was going to cost at least £600 and there is no guarantee that he would be successful. We have been told that you get knocked back for the least wee thing.

We have the money to buy a house in Scotland and our combined Aussie pensions equate to £300 a week. All this is not good enough. I can't understand why these terrible rules are in place.

Australia is a Commonwealth country and Australians fought with and for Britain in every war. I personally think it is time Australia got out of the Commonwealth as the British Government are treating her people like dirt. They are doing the same to the Kiwis, the Canadians etc.

We would NOT be a burden on the British Taxpayer as we have more than enough to look after ourselves. As I said nothing seems to be good enough for Theresa May, David Cameron etc.

I don't know if I will ever see Scotland again. Thanks for nothing Theresa May. These rules are inhumane. '

Anne

“Are these the family values the government wants to promote? Keeping parents and children/grandchildren apart ... breaking up husbands and wives?”

“It’s ridiculous that British people now have fewer rights in Britain than even those from outside the EU... ”

Anne is the British mother of a British son who, by this government’s account, should not have fallen in love, married and had a child with a lovely woman, because his child's mother happens to be American. Anne is also the British wife and main carer of a British man who is disabled.

Anne recognises that, as she gets older, she will need assistance from her son, for herself and her husband.

The new rules now in place mean that her son is forced to live apart from his wife and daughter. They also mean that she is not permitted to be with her son and daughter-in-law and is prevented from spending time with her granddaughter.

NOTHING is right about this situation.

They are a proud, if not rich, family. They missed the wedding of their son to a woman who is now a much loved member of the family. While it was painful missing her son’s wedding, the financial and practical constraints of Anne’s husband’s disability meant that they couldn’t travel.

They do, however, expect their son to be able to live in his home country, with his new family.

£18,600 is a lot of money for him and Anne, on top of the daily expenses of living and substantial visa application fees (as Anne sees it, we do not all have parliamentary salaries, generous expense accounts and cushy pensions – Anne pays for and travels in standard class).

Anne’s son has been saving money for a spouse visa and paying rent in the UK while also maintaining and paying for accommodation for his wife and child. Babies are expensive, as anyone with a child will tell you. Yet he managed for a long time.

Until these rules came in.

The stress of being apart from his wife and child is, in itself, difficult; but the impact of the rules, which suggest to him that he may never be with them, were he also to be here for his parents, caused Anne's son to become very ill, leading to the loss of his job. So, overall, this is now a worse situation for everyone, her son, his wife, their granddaughter, Anne’s husband, Anne and the entire extended family and community.

They now can’t even afford to fly to America to see the child unless friends and family help.

Are these the family values the government wants us to adopt?

Meanwhile this whole situation is taking a very bad toll on everyone's health. Anne is now on antidepressants and blood pressure tablets. Their fifteen-year-old daughter is feeling the stress of the situation – she can't understand why she can't see her little niece and sister-in-law. Their other daughter has their son living with her as he has now also lost his home, so has no choice but to move in with family.

The government needs to realise there are real people affected by these changes, not just government statistics. The rules were already hard to meet in the first place, the fees of hundreds of pounds were already a lot for the majority of working people.

Anyone from the EU can move to the UK with their spouse and children without having to satisfy any income criterion.

Yet now British people, in their own country, are being torn apart from their families! What has

this government done to our country and why? Who will look after us as we grow old? Who will look after us when we are ill? And who will answer the questions the next generation asks about why discriminatory and racist policies were allowed to be put in place, policies preventing Anne's son's daughter getting to know her father and grandparents?