ONCE again congratulations to John Blunt - this time for his observations on the immigration fiasco at Dover (August 25). As he suggests, what a stupid solution to the immediate problem the clowns have come up with.

Instead of finally grasping the nettle and doing something positive about the entire immigration situation, they propose sending groups of asylum-seekers to different parts of the country. This is to spread around the housing and financial burdens placed on councils, etc.

Applicants for asylum at the point of entry (what a farce!) get 90 per cent income support, housing benefit, free NHS treatment and subsidised dental and eye treatment. Who pays for this? The taxpayer of course. Meanwhile, where are our EU partners (sic) in all this? They, very conveniently, have their own immigration laws. What we need at all points of entry is a rapid turn-round system to send back most immigrants whence they came.

Now we learn that 20,000 applicants have been released into the community because of a processing backlog. What next?

The immigrants' friend, Jack Straw, says it will all be sorted in three years - by which time we shall have sunk without trace.

R BRACEWELL (Mr), Ormerod Street, Worsthorne, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.