ask if he could put that in writing
the link i sent you, maybe you could email the person who runs the blog as they appear ro be an attorney
http://famli.blogspot.com/
Please be patient if you have e-mailed me
For those of you who have e-mailed me with legal questions, please do be patient. It takes me seven to ten days to answer e-mails or the posted questions. Besides this blog and my Family Matters website, I do have several other things (personal and professional) to attend to.
also see if you can get some free lega aid from your local law centre
http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/lawcentres/detail/find/
and maybe try IAS
http://www.iasuk.org/home.aspx
but doing what you said might be the best option. I'm not sure what rights the father has if he kicked up a fuss, maybe if the british embassy will not give a visa for them, possibility that getting a family permit for them all , you've more of a legal right than under the british immigration system,