Speaking Out for Every Family

Our family’s story is in today’s Liverpool Echo — Thursday 25 September. On the surface, it is about one household in New Brighton — me, my wife Jana, and our three boys — but it is really the story of thousands of families across the UK. Families who came here in good faith, followed every rule, paid every fee, and are now being told that they may not belong.

Reform UK’s latest proposal to scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain is more than just another populist dog whistle. It is a direct threat to the stability of families who have built their lives in Britain legally and with trust in the system. The idea that you can invest years, savings, and hope into securing settlement, only to be told the rules could be rewritten after the fact, is nothing short of terrifying. It is an attack not only on migrants, but on the very principle of trust between citizens and the state.

Since coming back to Britain in 2022, we have done everything asked of us. We work full-time, pay taxes, run a business, own our home. Jana has retrained as a therapist, building a practice and supporting patients week by week. We have paid tens of thousands of pounds in fees to keep our family together legally. Our children are thriving in school, woven into their community, living fully British lives. We did everything right.

And still, we are made to feel temporary. Still, we are told by political leaders that our future is negotiable. Nigel Farage may not care about the wreckage his rhetoric leaves behind, but the anxiety it causes is real. Every day families like mine carry that weight — the weight of waiting for decisions, of hearing politicians casually talk about tearing lives apart, of knowing that one shift in policy could uproot everything.

This is not just about one family in Wirral. This is about every family in Britain who married across borders, who fell in love and tried to make a life here, who trusted Britain’s word. It is about every person who came legally, paid their dues, and is now treated as if they are disposable.

I spoke out in the Echo because silence is no longer an option. Reform’s politics of hostility must be challenged head on. And Labour, too, must find its voice — not with timid half-measures or by moving the goalposts, but with clarity and conviction that families who followed the rules will not be betrayed.

This is bigger than paperwork, bigger than politics. It is about what kind of country Britain wants to be: one that honours commitments and protects families, or one that weaponises fear and treats love as a liability.

For me, the answer is simple. Love should never come with a price tag, and it should never be used as a bargaining chip.

RW