Immigration debate

So higher education is now discovering that the administration of UK immigration control is arbitrary and irrational ("Valid students denied UK entry", October 7). This has been the case since at least the mid-1960s.

Cruelty and injustice resulting in much greater hardship than the loss of studentships is also a feature of the system. Exposures of errors and incompetence in the recent past have led to the Government further restricting the right of appeal against immigration decisions.

It is interesting that such issues become matters of public concern only when money is involved. But perhaps a few more academics will now take an interest in the administration of immigration control; there is everything to be gained by applying the critical scrutiny that has been absent for so long.

Robert Moore

Emeritus professor of sociology Liverpool University