Priti Patel and Boris Johnson have surrendered whatever claim to moral leadership they might have had
What will the verdict of history be on a country that turns its back so flagrantly upon human rights in general and the right to seek asylum through any available means in particular (Priti Patel to send boats carrying migrants to UK back across Channel, 9 September)? Priti Patel and Boris Johnson will join Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán et al as the embodiment of all that is most repugnant in the rightwing agenda, rejecting definitively any residual claim to moral leadership these once humane countries might have possessed. I doubt that I am alone in telling European friends of the shame I feel at allowing such people to lead my country. Their contribution to the defeat of the democratic ideal should not be underestimated by history.
David Cragg-James
Stonegrave, North Yorkshire
• I am writing to you to express my disgust at Priti Patel’s plans to implement laws for the UK Border Force to allow “pushbacks” in the Channel. I have witnessed and documented pushbacks by the Hellenic Coast Guard while volunteering for rescue charities in Greece. They are never humane or safe, with a hugely increased risk of weak and scared men, women and children who cannot swim entering the water.
