Migrants’ plight

I’M GLAD the problems of the Windrush generation are being looked at.

But there are migrants from Europe who came to Britain at the same time and, because of Brexit, find themselves in the same predicament.

My family were living in a small town in southern Italy when we were invited to come to work in Britain in 1952 because there was a shortage of farm workers. The British government even paid for the train journey from Milan to Wiltshire, where my father was a farm labourer on a fiveyear work permit.

I was only three years old when I came to Britain and can’t remember much, apart from all the rain when we arrived at Folkestone.

My parents had identity cards and their movement was restricted: they had to report to the local police station in Chippenham every week and inform them if we left the area to visit friends. The local village bobby at Lacock, where we lived, paid us visits as well.

At the end of the five years, the Home Office wrote to my father saying he and his family could stay in the UK indefinitely and look for other employment if he wanted to — my family still has this important letter.

I have lived in the UK for 65 years and always thought of it as my home — until now.

I can understand how some people feel overwhelmed by the recent immigration influx. What I dislike is the tendency to blame foreigners for all our social problems, yet at the same time allow some migrants, such as tennis player Johanna Konta, to have permanent status.

My widowed mother and I have contributed to this country so surely we have earned the right to remain here as citizens. VinCEnt COSEntinO,

Chippenham, Wilts.