Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Letters

Immigration limbo continues for many

Priti Patel
Priti Patel, the home secretary. ‘I cannot believe that the Home Office is not offering a full apology and compensation to [Ponnampalam Jothibala],’ writes Rekha Shah. Photograph: PA

Your story left me in tears (Sri Lankan man left in immigration limbo for decades can stay in UK, 30 January). I cannot believe that the Home Office is not offering a full apology and compensation to this man. He has missed out on education, marriage, having a family, seeing his own family and so much more that we take for granted. Unfortunately, this is still happening to many other people.
Rekha Shah
Bournemouth

• A dear old friend from up north had some wonderful expressions (Letters, 30 January). If anyone was miserable Mary would say they had “a face as long as a gasman’s mac”; if she had a troublesome stomach, “I’ve got a tummy like a boiled pudding”; and if anyone was in a bit of a muddle, they’d be “in a worse state than Russia”.
Cath Green
Chislehurst, Kent

• After making my first batch of marmalade this year, I looked up my mother’s costing of the same recipe in 1961. Then, a jar cost about 6d (2.5p); mine cost 60p. So still a bargain. I’m 87, but I hope I will be like your older readers a couple of years ago and still be doing it for a few more years yet.
Terry Bailey
Westley Waterless, Suffolk

• I still have a copy of The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to Europe from the early 1970s. The write-up for Albania is just two words: “Forget it.” It seems times have changed (UK tourists head to Albania for ‘sense of exotic’ without long-haul flight, 29 January).
Paul Wadsworth
Buckfastleigh, Devon

• British institutions to be proud of (Letters, 25 January)? The pub.
Barry Norman
Drighlington, West Yorkshire

Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.