The Windrush scandal is the direct result of Theresa May’s policies as home secretary

Theresa May was the home secretary that introduced the hostile policy towards immigrants that has led to the Windrush scandal. In doing so she has ably demonstrated that you don’t have to use chemical weapons to show inhumanity to fellow human beings. She once famously gave a speech saying that many people in the UK saw the Conservative Party as the “nasty party”. She seems determined to prove it so.

Joe Hennessy
Faversham

Amber Rudd is absolutely correct to be making an abject apology for the way these citizens have been treated. She is also correct to be referring to the “hostile environment” created by Theresa May. Lest we forget, she sent out vans [with adverts plastered on the side], telling immigrants to go home. In 2016 she introduced an earnings threshold for non-EU immigrants of £35,000, while the UK average was £26,000. She has also continued to threaten the Human Rights Act, a policy which will intensify the hostility towards immigrants, whilst also removing important protections for all UK citizens. How many times does it have to be reiterated that this country needs immigrants?

Lynda Newbery
Bristol

It is naive to the point of stupidity to believe the Tories bombed Syria over some altruistic impulse. These are the MPs who recently voted for an increase in the subsidy for their booze and meals in the Houses of Parliament, whilst at the same time removing free school meals from a million of the poorest kids in the UK. These are the MPs who watched and did nothing as the homeless, in the name of austerity, froze to death on our streets this winter.

Now that May has revealed a newly developed conscience however, one that made her break international law, we should encourage her to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, and tell them they will face international action if they continue to starve children in Yemen to death. We should demand that she instruct Israel to stop killing peaceful unarmed Palestinians protesters in the next Great Return March, or she will take the same action against Israel as what has happened in Syria. We should expect her to inform Turkey that the bombing of the Kurds in Afrin stops now, because only the US, the UK and France get to blow up other countries.

Julie Partridge
London

Peter Cave (Letters, 17 April) rightly points out the prime minister’s hypocrisy in condemning the use of chemical weapons while being prepared to use nuclear weapons, and even as a first strike. In view of the fact that in the parliamentary debate May said with some passion that “we need to stand up for the global rules and standards that keep us safe”, one has to ask why this government does not recognise the “global rules and standards” of the Geneva Conventions and the International Court of Justice, both of which clearly regulate against the first use of nuclear weapons – or whether they should be used at all.

Robert Forsyth
Deddington

War is not the solution to the crisis in Syria, but, neither is inaction. Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, has rightly stated that the ideal solution would be to stop the funding and arming extremists. We need to stop pretending that these bombings carried out by the West won’t harm the civilians. When has war ever restored peace? It only leads to more unrest and breeds more war. Fifteen years after the Iraq invasion, we are now realising that we were in the wrong. It seems that we haven’t learned anything from the past.

Fasih Malik
Calgary, Alberta

One reason for the increase in ambulance call-outs is that it is now less easy to contact a doctor at short notice. I recently had a slight pain in my chest and wished to discuss this with my GP. I was told that if I thought I had a chest problem, I should call an ambulance immediately, which I did. The examination and attention I received was excellent during 12 hours in hospital, and it was established that I had no problem. But I did wonder whether there could be a quicker and cheaper way of dealing with me, and a better use for the ambulance.

Ian Turnbull
Carlisle

You report that people are still buying water in plastic bottles. The reason for that is not an unwillingness to change behaviour, as your report suggests, but the fact that it is very difficult to find water in glass bottles, even in supermarkets. The same applies to fruit juice. Until the suppliers change their habits, we cannot do so. Tap water is fine in the house, but in railway stations, gyms and other places where people buy water on the go, it is only available in plastic.

Lawraine Wood
Whaley Bridge