If British migrants were being treated like the Windrush generation are, you can bet there would be much more outrage

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

It should surprise no one that the hostile environment appears to persist (PA)

Ash Sarkar is right to highlight the ongoing failures of the Home Office to promptly address the status of Windrush migrants. That the episode should occur at all is a disgrace, however it should surprise no one given the entrenched “hostile environment” deliberately established at the Home Office.

Equally it should surprise no one that this hostile environment appears to persist: changing the culture of an organisation takes time and, crucially, strong and persistent support from the whole management chain, starting at the top.

This strong support seems not to be present; all we have is Sajid Javid’s weasel words and these are no substitute for action. If British migrants were suffering a similar fate at the hands of a foreign government one can only imagine the public and political outcry. Draw your own conclusions on institutional racism.

David Wallis
Cirencester

No more air for Brexit

It seems illogical, almost bizarre, to write a letter about Brexit, suggesting that we should not be writing so many letters about Brexit.

My reasons are simple; no matter how many examples appear in the media of the perils ahead including medicines, Kent car park, Northern Ireland, etc, many leavers treat such caution with anger and vitriol. If none of these studies/surveys were carried out, which would naturally remove comment and discussion, the same individuals would still be angry but doubtless quoting complacency instead of fake news and treachery.

I have even noted anger creeping into The Independent’s letter page. Sadly this reminds me of my local paper; the other week one of the “regulars” was praising Enoch Powell of all people!

I shall continue to write the occasional letter on the evils of Brexit, but unlike the government, I shall strive to prioritise other problems or good things in society which need more focus or maybe just a good laugh.

Roll on the second referendum, or final say if you prefer.

Robert Boston
Kingshill

The real project fear

Will the Brexiteers stop their “project fear” sloganising? It was they who produced the anti-migrant “breaking point” poster and it was they who lied about saying Turkey were joining the European Union. It was these project fear tactics that helped them narrowly win the referendum. Philip Hammond and other Brexit sceptics who live in the real world, like haulier Kevin Hopper, are sensibly inviting us to partake in project reality and avoid the self-inflicted wound that is a no-deal Brexit.

Mark Edmondson
Lancaster

Once again we hear the Brexiteers dismissing the Chancellor’s warnings of the effects of a no-deal Brexit as more “project fear”. Rather than trotting out this tired cliché in response to everything of which they disapprove, why don’t they share with us the analysis they have done and the evidence they have to back up their assertion that all will be well, after “a period of adjustment”? Perhaps we could also be given more details about the short term consequences of a no-deal Brexit: how many jobs will be lost, what will the effect on the public finances be?

If the Brexiteers want the public to support their cause, they could do worse than provide reasons to do so.

Ian Richards
Birmingham

Well done to GCSE students

By tradition, GCSE exam results every summer are interpreted by the media as indicating a fall in standards: if more children do well, this proves exams are getting easier; if fewer children do well, this shows standards are dropping dangerously; if an equal number of children do as well as in previous years, then standards are, shockingly, not improving in line with our competitors abroad.

It is therefore delightful to hear of the recent rise in GCSE grades, despite acknowledgement that this summer’s exams were harder than in previous years.

Ben Warren, recently retired secondary school headteacher
Address supplied

Real news is sometimes scarier than fake

In the world of fake news sometimes the real news is even more worrying. In two of those “what the hell” stories there is an example of a fundamental principle of economics – supply and demand.

The first story was about the US education department considering letting state education authorities use their federal funding to supply some guns for their schools. One would assume that they will be used for protection – perhaps by highly trained and heavily armed teachers.

The second story was from the other side, the demand side, with a Fox News anchor discussing “bullet proof backpacks” which would protect a student’s back if the shooter aims accurately and you are running away. This is probably a good idea at the time – the running away part.

If anybody wonders whether or not the world is going mad they need not wonder any more.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

The state of the NHS

As a health campaigner I have lost count of all the chairpersons, chief executives and managers, etc, at the Department of Health, Care Quality Commission, NHS Improvements, NHS Resolutions, NHS England, to name a few, I have been fobbed off by. Lack of continuity has also added to the problem at the above mentioned organisations especially in the last three years.

All this to get told “lessons have been learnt”; “we are investing more”; when everyone knows mismanagement and under-investment in frontline staff for over a decade has caused a financial and clinical crisis.

Twenty billion pounds promised in the next few years will not improve the situation but will just keep the soiree going if the department of health and fellow regulators don’t take their heads out of the sand and earn their extortionate pay packets.

Jeremy Hunt, after stating the health service was his baby, was then moved to another position to play with (now foreign secretary).

This again highlights the ethos that has blighted the NHS for years; if you mess up in a senior position, move on to party somewhere else. Add on all the name changes to departments, non-medical consultants, turn-around directors, enforcement officers and accountancy/audit companies who charge tens/hundreds/thousands of pounds for their services.

This is where all the taxpayers’ money has gone and is destined to go if things don’t alter in the big new ten year plan for the NHS.

Paul Broadhurst, local health campaigner
Cheshire

Labour’s logo

Labour should temporarily replace its red rose logo with the head of the Roman god Janus to reflect its position of facing both ways on Brexit.

On the plus side it could inspire Jeremy Corbyn to support a final say referendum as a means of bringing order to the current political turmoil given the deity’s association with the beginning and ending of conflict (Labour says new referendum possible if May’s deal is rejected by parliament).

Roger Hinds
Surrey

The risks of not leaving the EU

Barry Gardiner’s argument on a second referendum deserves a much better hearing than that given by Simon Carrel (Letters).

At a general election we know we are electing a parliament for a maximum of five years and will make a judgement on their performance next time. By contrast we were told quite clearly in 2016 that our future membership or otherwise of the EU would be determined by the referendum result “for a generation”.

Not leaving the EU after voting to do so would leave a legacy of anger and disgust that would be exploited by forces that would make Ukip look like a vicar’s tea party.

This is the point that Gardiner was making and it is a valid one that should be seriously considered.

Alan Brown
Wirral