We should welcome immigrants, not demonise them

The bright light that has shone on the arguments in parliament over immigration, illegal or otherwise, and illuminated an utter lack of morality, compassion or even common sense from this shambolic Tory government.

The continual demonisation of people taking boat trips across the Channel to try to reach sanctuary (and hopefully better life chances) has permeated every discussion in parliament, yet all of this whipping up of hostility “on behalf of the British people” (as is claimed) has led to what exactly? Millions spent sending people to Rwanda with no outcome; millions on defending the indefensible in court hearings; millions spent on sub-standard accommodation and hotels.

Rishi Sunak, for reasons only he can explain, seems to have abandoned sensible government pursuit of policies on the economy, the NHS crisis and myriad other desperate problems in this country. Instead he throws himself and his cabinet into increasingly desperate measures to get flights to Rwanda, which in reality will only remove a couple of hundred immigrants. He is locked into a neverending war with the numerous right-wing factions to try to save his position, while the country looks bemused and – going by recent polls – unimpressed.

Would it not be far better to turn this “problem” on its head, and see this influx of people wanting to come here to work as a resource to build into the fabric of our society? The inability of the Home Office to process applications may be missing out on a pool of people with skills that our country desperately needs. Medics, engineers, carers – the list goes on, waiting in limbo when they could be utilised to the country’s (and their) benefit.

The small boats do need to be stopped, but mainly because of the terrible risk to life. If we were to put the wasted millions into setting up safe channels for immigrants to apply to come here, in places such as France, with properly trained, committed border staff and a sensible system of selection, consider the change that would bring to the national dialogue.

Kate Hall

Leeds

Reading the article concerning shrinkflation got me wondering how many of your readers remember the original ads for the Yorkie chocolate bar. Associating this large chunky chocolate bar with muscular macho lorry drivers thundering down the road in their big trucks.

A visit to the confectionary counter today reveals a more wimpish offering more suitable to the driver of a Noddy car.

G Forward

Stirling

In The Longer Read Andrew Dorman points out the poor state of our military – and our navy in particular – amid rising world tensions in which the Germans and Swedes have recently been told that the prospect of Nato being drawn into war with Russia is an increasingly real possibility. The fact is that the UK has invested billions in maintaining the nuclear deterrent while our conventional armed forces have been starved by 15 years of Tory misrule in not providing the necessary investment to fight such a war.

In his article, Mr Dorman repeats the government’s much-quoted figure of £31bn for the new Dreadnought class Trident missile submarines. Not only are these boats arriving 10 years too late – the present Vanguard class are already past their design life – but there are huge additional capital sums which are also needed to maintain the nuclear deterrent.

Because this government has adopted a policy of not answering any questions at all on military nuclear matters, no one really knows what the actual budgets are for the new nuclear warheads. From scarce information in the public domain one can add at least £40bn to the £31bn quoted, and some would say that even that is very conservative.

As the country embarks on its election year the voting public deserve to know what is actually being spent on nuclear weapons.

Robert Forsyth

Deddington

I applaud The Independent for its prudent coverage of the measles outbreak in the UK. This is a sobering reminder of what can happen when the delivery of vaccines is allowed to lapse. Vaccines are the most efficient and cost-effective public health intervention in modern history. They can prevent avoidable deaths and alleviate human suffering.

Perhaps the billions spent on defence budgets to procure armaments used for death and destruction should instead be spent on vaccinations to offer hope, possibility and healing.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London