The NHS couldn’t function without migrants – so why are they being punished for pay rises?

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

The NHS is one institution that couldn’t function without the labour of migrants (PA)

After months of refusing to negotiate with teachers and doctors over pay, Rishi Sunak’s government has offered public sector workers a 6 per cent pay increase – still well under the rate of inflation. They propose to fund this rise by significantly increasing the cost of migrant visa charges and migrants’ access to the NHS.

And to their shame, the leaders of the teaching unions are recommending acceptance of this proposal. Public sector workers must reject and demand an above-inflation wage increase funded by increased taxation on the rich.

The government wants to blame the cost of living crisis on migrants, but migrants didn’t tank the economy. Our current economic state is down to 13 years of Tory mismanagement and policies designed to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor.

Teachers and doctors have to show solidarity with migrants, many of who are, after all, their colleagues.

The NHS is one institution that couldn’t function without the labour of migrants.

Do the right thing, teachers and doctors, tell the government where they can shove their pay offer!

Sasha Simic

London

The public doesn’t get to sit in judgement

It is disappointing that a number of BBC presenters have assisted in denying a colleague their right to anonymity, both through a process of elimination and by setting an example that suggests those under suspicion should submit to public interrogation. It seems that, while making an icon of gay rights, we fail to uphold the broader principle that one’s sexual inclinations and, subject to valid consent, one’s sexual activities are not a matter for public censure.

The public sense of entitlement to sit in judgement should be resisted.

In my opinion, the greatest public prejudice perhaps applies to the suggested difference in age. This seems to me a gratuitous slur against all older people. It suggests that, in the unlikely event of our becoming involved with a much younger person, we automatically are guilty of having a malign influence over the relationship. Applying a de facto limit to the age gap, in lieu of enforcing the age of consent, seems to me an abdication of responsibility for protecting the vulnerable.

John Riseley

North Yorkshire

The UK should care more about global poverty

In 2021, the UK overseas aid budget dropped from the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent. This is not forecasted to increase until 2028. This past year, much of the budget has gone towards housing refugees within the UK. Such allocations and cuts detract from the United Kingdom’s position as a developmental superpower, as aid is no longer being used for one of its primary purposes: to end global poverty.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations had the objective of eradicating global poverty by 2030. Following the impact the pandemic has had on the world’s poorest people, with poverty increasing in 2021 for the first time since the 1990s, this unfortunately no longer looks possible.

For those concerned about the cost of refugees within the country, please consider that the best way to prevent global relocation is via mutual prosperity – when our neighbours succeed, we in turn succeed. The UK must care about global poverty.

Nayla Ziadeh

London

No more fun in flying

In The Independent, today, we had reports of the Cerberus extreme heat wave forecast to drive temperatures well past 40C in many parts of Europe, with spikes up to 48C in some places. These record temperatures have already proven deadly, killing one man in Italy.

In the same issue, someone asked Simon Calder, “How can I make the most of my Galapagos Islands trip?”, to which Calder replied: “A trip to this far-flung and entrancing archipelago over Christmas looks like an excellent prospect.”

And still, many holidaymakers are jetting off for the summer or writing to Simon Calder asking about the best flight deals available.

Global warming is already killing people and destroying parts of our planet. How can anyone justify making a non-essential, greenhouse gas-spewing 10,000-mile round trip by air when the world is on the brink of a climate disaster? Air travel contributes up to 5 per cent of global warming. This could be reduced hugely if we all stopped the self-indulgence of flying for fun.

Ian Quayle

Herefordshire

Go your own way

The interminable calls promoting the idea of Welsh and Scottish independence and separation from “the English” is both wearing and tiresome and while I note both campaigns seem to have faltered lately, could I tentatively suggest a third option? To trigger the revival of the campaigns I’m wondering if it’s time we English took the initiative and set out our own plans to declare our independence from the Welsh and the Scots. With Brexit “done” perhaps Boris could be dragged out of his lair to persuade the English of the huge benefits of separation and help these outlying nations to move towards standing on their own feet.

Try to think of the campaign as a political “defibrillator” which might just put some heart back into those languishing parties. They’ve all already got their own parliaments, budgets and political structures so all it needs is a tiny push and we’d potentially be rid of their constant whining forever. Clearly, I haven’t thought through the minor details but (like Brexit) we can iron out the nitty gritty once we’ve got decree nisi and divided up the bank accounts. Any takers?

Steve Mackinder

Denver, Norfolk