To: Priti Patel, home secretary

Priti Patel’s plan to send refugees to offshore detention islands seems to have been stopped for the moment – but the government is now planning to use old ferries as prison ships instead.

This new wave of attacks on refugees is not just a few leaked ideas – it is being driven right from the top of Downing Street. The government has already started negotiating the purchase of the ferries.

The Tories previously put refugees on a prison ship in the 1980s. This ended with the ship, with appalling conditions on board and in a state of disrepair, being blown off its moorings in a storm.

Their plan manages to combine being inhumane and cruel with being unworkable. It must be dropped immediately.

Highlighted comments

The refugees are not doing anything wrong and should not be ‘punished’ for seeking refuge. They should be treated with humanity and respect. One day this could be us.

Sheila, Newport

This does not reflect the kind of Britain that I any many others wish to live in. We cannot create situations whereby people have to flee a country that we are bombing and then not accept the inevitable refugee crisis that we have created.

Graham, Brighton

The in-country detention centres are bad enough. God alone knows what these would be like when there is very little way for them to be properly scrutinised or examined.

Lyn, Berwickshire