ANDREW Diggens (Large numbers will still say ‘why bother’, Craven Herald letters, August 22) suggests that the Human Rights Act prevents the deportation of failed asylum seekers. This is simply untrue. Leaving the EU, with their Dublin 111 agreement enabling international cooperation, has made action on action for failed asylum seekers more difficult for the UK.

Yet in the few weeks this Labour government has been in power, significant actions have been taken to improve our record on dealing with failed asylum seekers. 300 Home Office workers have been taken off the crazy, and now scrapped, Rwanda scheme in order to process applications more swiftly. 100 specialist intelligence officers are also being recruited.

Indeed, more than 200 failed asylum seekers were returned to Brazil in one week in August alone – the largest single deportation on record. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is hoping to boost numbers of returnees by well over 10,000 by the end of this year.

The intention is to increase the speed of processing and return of failed applicants to nearly 50,000 a year as it was under the last Labour government. This compares to the last Conservative governments' records of less than half of that for well over a decade.

Mr. Diggins also criticises the withdrawal by Labour of the Winter Fuel Allowance. Never could there have been a more dim-witted way to target people who are unable to pay their fuel bills – paying millionaires and rich pensioners the same as very poor ones.

I am certain that the October Budget will see the introduction of a much more rational and fairer way of helping people in fuel payment difficulties.

Phil Lee

Elslack