Your story left me in tears (Sri Lankan man left in immigration limbo for decades can stay in UK, 30 January). I cannot believe that the Home Office is not offering a full apology and compensation to this man. He has missed out on education, marriage, having a family, seeing his own family and so much more that we take for granted. Unfortunately, this is still happening to many other people.
Rekha Shah
Bournemouth
• A dear old friend from up north had some wonderful expressions (Letters, 30 January). If anyone was miserable Mary would say they had “a face as long as a gasman’s mac”; if she had a troublesome stomach, “I’ve got a tummy like a boiled pudding”; and if anyone was in a bit of a muddle, they’d be “in a worse state than Russia”.
Cath Green
Chislehurst, Kent
• After making my first batch of marmalade this year, I looked up my mother’s costing of the same recipe in 1961. Then, a jar cost about 6d (2.5p); mine cost 60p. So still a bargain. I’m 87, but I hope I will be like your older readers a couple of years ago and still be doing it for a few more years yet.
Terry Bailey
Westley Waterless, Suffolk
• I still have a copy of The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to Europe from the early 1970s. The write-up for Albania is just two words: “Forget it.” It seems times have changed (UK tourists head to Albania for ‘sense of exotic’ without long-haul flight, 29 January).
Paul Wadsworth
Buckfastleigh, Devon
• British institutions to be proud of (Letters, 25 January)? The pub.
Barry Norman
Drighlington, West Yorkshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
