Letters: The PM must turn his words on immigration reform into action
SIR – Rishi Sunak (Comment, December 14) vows to stop migrants who “get [to Britain] by cheating”.
The trouble is that we have heard it all before.
Malcolm Richman
Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
SIR – The Prime Minister’s proposals to combat illegal immigration are described by Philip Johnston (Comment, December 14) as “doomed measures”. With 55 years in the UK Immigration Service (now Border Force), I share his pessimism.
From the mid-1960s, although the legislation and rules were clear, every step taken by governments to address public concerns about immigration or combat obvious abuse of the system was opposed by pressure groups and MPs representing their community interests and individual cases. This undoubtedly impeded the effective implementation of decisions. At that time there was little legal intervention.
It was the much heralded Immigration Act of 1971, the product of a Conservative government, along with the subsequent and ever-changing acts, rules and secondary legislation introduced by governments of all shades, that resulted in the very effective corps of immigration lawyers who are so often berated by ministers as professional frustraters of carefully crafted measures to stem abuse.
So, unless the controversial step is taken of passing effective legislation to prevent lawyers and courts intervening in immigration and asylum decisions, Rishi Sunak’s confidence in the possibility of reform will be empty rhetoric, and we will just end up with more otiose legislation.
William Fleming
Frimley, Surrey
SIR – It looks like Rishi Sunak is at last going to do something about illegal Channel crossings. The supposed Brexiteer Boris Johnson showed very little interest in doing anything about the problem, and his useless successor, another supposed Brexiteer, showed no interest at all. Their indifference was baffling and inexcusable. Will they ever explain themselves?
Stefan Badham
Portsmouth, Hampshire
SIR – How many more tragedies will it take before the French government accepts that Channel migration is a shared problem?
It is a problem that can only be resolved only on the beaches of northern France through Anglo-French land, sea and air patrols. The French cannot stand by and watch criminal offences taking place, with migrants setting sail in boats that are unseaworthy.
Moreover, the patrols must be in the right place at the right time. More drones are not the answer. The isolated beaches and sand dunes between Dunkirk and the Baie de Somme must be subject to persistent patrols with light aircraft whose purpose is to deter and detect. Only light aircraft, with their speed, reach and agility, can make a difference.
Sqn Ldr James A Cowan
Durham
Help for youth groups
SIR – The cost of living crisis is deepening. Along with families, youth groups such as Scouts and Girlguiding are facing the brunt of it in Britain’s lowest-income areas.
Girlguiding research has found that 42 per cent of guiding parents and carers are spending less on extracurricular activities, and research from YouGov, commissioned by the Scouts, reveals that one in 12 parents can no longer afford extracurricular activities for their children. More than a quarter of young guiding members between the ages of 14 and 18 said they felt “very” worried about the crisis.
Energy bills are increasing. The electricity bill for the 1st Pontygwaith Scout Group, in South Wales, has gone up from £150 to £500 a year. That means the cost of coming to Scouts has to rise. Volunteers are experiencing extra pressures, having to take on additional jobs, which means that some have less time to volunteer.
The Government must act. The energy price cap needs to be extended to charities for at least a year. This will mean we can keep our doors open to children who so desperately need a place to belong in these tough times.
Matt Hyde
Chief Executive, Scout Association
Angela Salt
CEO, Girlguiding
Love after Titanic
SIR – Some time ago, an elderly neighbour commented on my husband’s unusual surname, and asked if he could be related to Joseph Boxhall the fourth officer on the Titanic (Arts, December 9), who had survived the shipwreck as he had been put in charge of lifeboat number two.
My husband investigated and found that Joseph was his great uncle. The neighbour then explained that she had a relative called Marjorie Beddells, who, during the First World War, knitted socks for sailors. Apparently, Marjorie always slipped her name and address in the toes. Joseph received a pair and, intrigued, wrote to her. They met, fell in love and married in 1919.
Louise Boxhall
Thurlestone, Devon
Improvised insulation
SIR – Inspired by Margaret Brooks’s letter (December 14) on homemade draught excluders, I rolled up my Telegraph and wrapped it in old curtain linings (which I had been trying to find a use for). It did the trick.
Andrea Bates
Enstone, Oxfordshire
Better nurse training
SIR – I am an advanced nurse practitioner (ANP), past retiring age but doing locum work for a GP surgery.
I trained on the wards as a registered nurse, with a few weeks at a time out for study leave. It was the best kind of training, as we got practical experience learning on the job and trailed senior nurses watching procedures. We were never short of staff.
By contrast, as an ANP, I once had a student nurse in the surgery who was about to go on the wards. She was very nervous as she did not feel she had enough experience. Nurses do not need a degree. I did mine later in life when I decided to become a nurse practitioner and an independent prescriber. If student nurses spent more time on the wards there would be more nurses available, and they would gain vital practical experience.
Regarding the nurses’ strike, I think nurses should be paid more. I also think that, during the pandemic, when they worked so hard, they should all have been given a bonus of £1,000. It is not too late.
Angela de Caux Feather
London SW18
SIR – Michael Crumplin (Letters, December 13) is scandalised by the “inflated rates” that NHS hospitals are paying for agency staff, concluding that it reflects “significant and long-standing under-provision of staff”.
I am an ex-NHS clinician who now enjoys the flexible work and better pay that Mr Crumplin believes must “tempt some medical staff” to leave the NHS.
I left, however, because I was in real danger of experiencing occupational burn-out and had no prospect of career progression (due to capping of the NHS band levels within our Trust). Realising I would never make consultant psychologist, I concluded that life outside the NHS would be preferable.
Most of my work as an independent psychologist is for the NHS. I am able to do the job I was trained to do, to a standard that I feel proud of, and offer NHS patients a high-quality service while managing clinical risk safely. I also feel better valued, both in terms of how I am treated and by pay that reflects my expertise.
Sadly, I can think of nothing – including matched pay – that would entice me back into direct employment by the NHS in its current state.
Dr Zenobia Storah
Hale Barns, Cheshire
BBC complacency
SIR – It is nonsense for the BBC to suggest that no other broadcaster can cover royal events as well as it does (Letters, December 14). I watched Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Sky. It was beautifully done, and ITV apparently did a good job, too.
The BBC’s autumn schedules were overwhelmed with sport. Little effort has gone into producing shows for those with other interests. There have also been too many repeats.
The BBC receives a very large income from taxed television owners, and it is time more of this was spent on programmes for everyone.
Elizabeth Spooner
Wokingham, Berkshire
A cat from Qatar
SIR – After four years in Qatar, my daughter brought home a handsome ginger cat she had named Rory.
Though friendly in Doha, Rory has become the neighbourhood hooligan here, feared by other cats.
The England footballers Kyle Walker and John Stones, who have brought back Dave the cat (report, December 12), should warn their local felines.
Cherry Tugby
Warminster, Wiltshire
When department stores were in their prime
SIR – Jane Shilling (Comment, December 12) is right – the demise of department stores is something to be wept over.
In the early 1950s, on the first Saturday of the Christmas holidays, as a great treat my mother and aunt would take me shopping in London.
The first port of call was Swan & Edgar in Piccadilly, where Mother had coffee with “a small delicacy”, Auntie had Earl Grey tea and I had orange squash. Lunch was always at the Jumbo restaurant in Selfridges.
Afterwards, the three of us would work our way through Debenham & Freebody and Marshall & Snelgrove (for foundation garments), then go to Bourne & Hollingsworth for tea. Finally, it was back to Victoria station to catch the Brighton Belle home to Hove, when we would eat wonderful fruit cake on the train.
Today’s Oxford Street seems like a desert compared to the vibrant and brightly lit one of my memory.
Rosie Rushton
Northampton
Tougher action to protect women online
SIR – The Online Safety Bill (report, December 14) must go further to address violence against women and girls (VAWG). As a coalition of experts, we welcome the Bill’s return, but it must treat this as the national emergency it is.
Tackling VAWG is a strategic policing requirement as well as a government priority, but recent changes in the Bill mean previous provisions on “misogynistic content” have been weakened.
If the Government is serious about prioritising VAWG, a mandated Code of Practice must be included in the Bill. This would provide specific guidance and send a clear message to social media companies that they must tackle violence against women.
At least 36 per cent of British women have experienced online abuse or harassment perpetrated on social media. Online platforms are failing to respond to this crisis. The women and girls we support tell us how these failures have left them retraumatised, at increased risk of harm and abuse, and silenced online.
With our insight into women and girls’ experiences of online abuse and harassment, we stand ready to work with the Government to address this serious issue. We urge it to include VAWG in the list of mandatory Codes of Practice within the Bill. This would mean the legislation could be truly transformative for millions of British women and girls.
Ruth Davison
CEO, Refuge
Baroness Kidron
Founder, 5Rights Foundation
Sir Peter Wanless
CEO, NSPCC
Clare McGlynn
Professor of Law, Durham University
Seyi Akiwowo
Founder and CEO, Glitch
Andrea Simon
Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition
William Perrin
Trustee Carnegie UK
Saskia Garner
Head of Policy & Campaigns, Suzy Lamplugh Trust
Lorna Woods
Professor of Internet Law, University of Essex
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