Letter: Jailing asylum seekers flouts human rights

Sir: Are Michael Howard and Ann Widdecombe acting in the national interest? Won't they be responsible if any of the "detainees" die?

During the Thirties my family came to this country from St Petersburg. They were escaping from the tyranny of the Soviet Union. Some of them worked in Germany on their way and had to escape a second time from the officialdom and terror of Nazi Germany.

They came here with nothing. Life was hard. They were happy and proud to become UK citizens. My uncle Mark was a successful barrister here until he was in his eighties. My father, Serge, worked in the BBC through the Second World War, monitoring Soviet and German broadcasting. He often told me how lucky he was that people here were so decent and just.

MICHAEL WOLFF

London WC1