What immigration debate?
Sir: Henrik Jonsson says (Letters, 10 September) that Swedes ought to learn from the Brits how to maintain a broad and dynamic public debate. I can’t say I witnessed anything approximating public debate on the topic of immigration during the referendum, when the debate was carried out through the ballot box, not in reasonable parliamentary discussion. What we need is for more senior politicians to be willing to engage in public discourse and take a non-careerist approach. Too many leaders have thought it best to avoid this toxic issue rather than risk their positions. As Enoch Powell once described the typical politicians’ view on immigration, ‘It’s better for us to do nothing now and let it happen perhaps after our time.’
Benjamin Isaacson
London NW11
Psycho analysis
Sir: I thoroughly enjoyed Toby Young’s astute analysis of how the Labour MP Keith Vaz and the US politician Anthony Weiner appear to possess a ‘talent for psychopathy’ because they seem to lack a sense of shame or guilt (Status anxiety, 10 September).
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