It’s time for soft touch Britain to toughen up

WELL-MEANING, but pointless, suggestions are offered to curb Channel crossings by migrants, but they will not be stopped by Customs or the Royal Navy.

Most of us don’t object to providing refuge to migrants fleeing oppression and death threats.

However, dangerous countries create dangerous people. I suggest that when refugee status is granted, citizenship is subject to ten years’ probation.

Violent, sexual or other serious crime committed within that time should result in deportation — no dither, delay nor appeal.

Genuine asylum seekers will become good citizens of this country as they work towards and truly value citizenship.

DON TROWER, Braintree, Essex. I AM horrified the cost to taxpayers of illegal migrants and asylum seekers is over £1 billion (Mail).

the migrants are breaking rules by not seeking asylum in the first safe country they come to. they want to come to Britain because we are such a soft touch.

Why are we so squeamish about simply returning them to France?

CHERYL FELIX, Marton, Lincs.

Milking a royal deal

tHE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have negotiated a multi-millionpound contract with Netflix to enable them to propagate various good causes they espouse.

As they are so altruistic, would it not be nobler to provide these services free of charge or via a charitable organisation, otherwise we might get the false impression they’re in it just for the money.

In view of their great desire to improve the planet, I feel sure they would not wish the public to think this contract is intended to fund their lavish lifestyle. ROBERT ANTHONY,

Bromham, Beds. NOW that Meghan and Harry have signed a lucrative deal with

Netflix perhaps they will repay British taxpayers for the renovations on Frogmore Cottage. DR A. HOWARD, London SE3.

Outsourcing danger

IMAGINE the job advert: ‘Large City organisation seeks people willing to work from home on exciting projects. Must have excellent computer networking skills. Salary £80,000 if you live within the London commuter belt; £10,000 if you live in India.’

Get suited, booted and back to the office before it’s too late.

JOHN DILLON, New Milton, Hants.

Keep it local

COULD flexible working be the saviour of town centres? Many people don’t have a home suitable for working and don’t want to commute to the cities.

Could the solution be local, smaller-scale office buildings with underground parking complete with electric car charging points? Employees of different companies could rent a desk or an office.

Office workers will need and support cafes, bars and shops. Equipped with the latest technology, such offices would reduce commuting times and breathe life into local economies. MIKE RAWSON, Cheshunt, Herts.

No work for us

It’S true those in essential industries worked throughout the lockdown (Letters), but what about the thousands of jobs in ‘ non- essential’ areas such as entertainment?

I work for a firm that supplies lights and sound to theatres, conferences, weddings and other events. We would dearly love to work, but these industries are still unable to resume.

What’s going to happen to us when the furlough scheme ends is anyone’s guess. CATHERINE ROSS,

Woking, Surrey. I AM surprised that some people have said they are too frightened to return to work.

I left school at 15 to join the Royal Navy, serving in Fishery Protection off the coast of Norway and Iceland, dodging icebergs and 50 ft waves, and then worked on submarines. I was a miner for 15 years, a retained firefighter and now am a civil servant. I’ve never been scared to go to work.

Name and address supplied.

Following the rules

DON’t tar all children with the same brush. My two sons aged 11 and 14 have not been mixing with their mates and ignoring the social distancing rules.

they visit their grandparents in their garden, no hugging allowed, and have just started training in a bubble for their football team. During lockdown they only went out to walk the dog with us.

they wore masks when getting a haircut and school shoes. But unfortunately, there is no socially distancing at school and some other children couldn’t care less. TRACEY GILVEAR,

Ellisfield, Hants.

Single-minded Scots

SHOULD Scotland be independent? It’s a loaded question, with the implication it is a colony or vassal state. that has never been the case. the union came about because a Welsh born princess wed a Scottish prince.

In fact, Scotland is more independent than England. We don’t get to choose how much English money Scotland spends.

So if there is to be a second referendum, let the question be: should Scotland leave the United Kingdom? I doubt that prospect will be quite so appealing.

G. HOLWILL, Exeter, Devon.

Driving ambition

RULES governing F1 don’t favour Mercedes (Letters). It’s just that they have been more adept than other teams in exploiting them.

It is no coincidence that the top three spending teams have won every Grand Prix between them since 2013.

Had Lewis Hamilton been driving the worse performing car in the pack over the past eight seasons, he would not have amassed his number of wins.

the only way to spice up racing is to change the rules. Make every car identical and equip them with rudimentary aerodynamics.

But this would not happen because F1 is supposed to represent the pinnacle of motorsport engineering.

If the governing body did introduce these changes, wouldn’t it be ironic if the driver standings were more or less the same? NIGEL THOMPSON,

Rossendale, Lancs.

Not rational

It’S astonishing that Whitehall has splurged £ 56 million on consultants (Mail).

I worked for a large engineering firm and when consultants were called in to ‘ rationalise’ the company, we were instructed to ‘look busy’. We did as we were told and nothing changed.

We could never understand why highly paid directors needed outside advice to tell them how to do our job. DAVID DRAVEN, Burley, W. Yorks.