Prime Minister Keir Starmer has backed the Home Office’s appeal to deport an Albanian criminal whose case gained attention after a tribunal ruled that his 10-year-old son’s sensitivity to food made deportation “unduly harsh.”
The case revolves around Klevis Disha, 39, who entered the UK illegally, concealed his nationality, and later gained citizenship. He was convicted of handling £250,000 in criminal proceeds and sentenced to two years in prison. Despite his criminal record, a lower tribunal ruled that his deportation would negatively impact his son, identified as C, due to the child’s additional needs, including educational support and difficulty eating foreign chicken nuggets.
The ruling was widely criticized, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage calling it “a case that makes me want to cry.” The decision was overturned by an upper court, and the Home Office is now pushing for deportation.
A spokesman for Starmer stated that the Prime Minister “absolutely supports” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s appeal. Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle also expressed astonishment at the case, emphasizing that nearly 19,000 foreign criminals and migrants with no right to remain have been deported since July.
The case is part of a broader issue, with over 34,000 outstanding asylum appeals and a backlog of more than 131,000 immigration cases. The government remains focused on tightening immigration policies and ensuring that criminals without legal status are removed from the UK.