Home Secretary Suella Braverman

• YOUR obituary of photographer Dorothy Bohm reminds us once again of the invaluable contributions to the UK’s life and society made by the asylum seekers and emigres who were welcomed here in the last century, perhaps especially in the arts, entertainment, jurisprudence, industry and sciences.

Without their involvement, the UK might have risked intellectual stagnation and would have lost numerous opportunities for international co-operation in fields benefiting both this country and others.

Contrast this with the cruel, narrow-minded, “fortress Britain” attitude promulgated by home secretary Suella Braverman (herself the daughter of migrants) that vilifies asylum seekers, denies them legal ways to claim sanctuary and vows to imprison or deport those arriving by the only remaining route.

Tory politicians are quick to extol “British values” but the current cabinet should be ashamed of their complicity in trashing the values embraced by previous generations who saw that the country would be enhanced by an open, welcoming attitude to people fleeing persecution and did not seek to throw them back in the sea.

DON KELLER, N15