Readers respond to an article by John Harris in which he reflects on a ‘bitter absurdity’ at the heart of British life

John Harris’s article mentions the March 2024 rules banning new migrant care workers from bringing dependants (In an NHS ward I saw how Britain relies on immigrants. Yet still we tell them they’re not wanted, 16 February).

Less well known is that thousands of health and care workers who arrived before this date have also been prevented from bringing their children – most of them single mothers. A report published on 22 January by Action for Southern Africa and Women of Zimbabwe revealed that thousands of single mothers, from Zimbabwe and elsewhere, settled into their jobs only to then be denied visas for their children, who were waiting back home to join them.