I’VE never felt more ashamed to hold a British passport than I do today, after reading that the UK has approved only 760 visas for Ukrainian refugees (“PM vows refugees to UK will rise 'very sharply'", The Herald, March 10). It’s not even clear whether any of those 760 have actually arrived in the UK yet.

The original proposal for accepting Ukrainian refugees was inadequate and mean-spirited. After protests, some from the Government’s own back benches, the scheme has been improved marginally, but every concession has been made through Priti Patel’s gritted teeth. The scheme is still inadequate, as evidenced by the fact that Poland has accepted more than a million refugees and the rest of Europe combined rapidly approaches that number.

Boris Johnson told MPs that the UK “has an unparalleled record” when it comes to taking in refugees. In a sense he’s right: almost every other European nation is proving more generous towards the victims of war. Only the UK creates insurmountable hurdles for refugees, while its Prime Minister boasts of British exceptionalism. He even has the gall to say that “we understand how much this country has to gain from welcoming refugees”; jaw-dropping from a Government hell bent on keeping foreigners out, whatever their status.

Almost as dispiriting is Labour’s stance. I heard Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. He criticised the Government’s refugee visa scheme and claimed Labour’s proposal would be much quicker. When challenged, it turned out Labour wanted the same scheme as the Government’s, with biometric and security checks at a few defined locations.

I’m glad the Government has now accepted that biometric data can be provided once people arrive in the UK, but it’s only for those who are joining a family member with the right to remain. What about everyone else who’s trapped in this emergency? Are the 80-year-old women and babes in arms such a dire threat to our national security that they need to enter reams of information online, then travel long distances and queue for hours in the cold to present a pile of documents, before being even considered for assistance?

Ian Blackford had it right when he called on the Prime Minister to “join the rest of Europe and waive visa restrictions for refugees fleeing war in Ukraine”. Checks can be done when they’re here, in safety.

Doug Maughan, Dunblane.

* YOU can now apply online for a visa to come to the UK; that's the message from the Westminster Government to the fleeing innocent of Ukraine. So the UK Government is asking these desperate people: do you have your passport, do you have access to a computer or a smartphone? Do you have access to electricity to charge those devices?

We are talking about people fleeing for their lives, standing in all they have. This is an outrage. This only comes into effect next Tuesday. What do Ukrainians do in the meantime?

Catriona C Clark, Falkirk.

* NEVER did I think, growing up in the war, with my father away for virtually six years, serving King and Country with distinction in the RAMC through the North African and European campaigns; never did I think, that in my old age I would be ashamed to be British, but I am – deeply ashamed of the callous attitude of the Westminster Government to refugees and immigrants, especially now in this Ukrainian emergency.

Any concessions that have been made have all been because of of pressure from the public and decent MPs. How can these people in government behave as they do and stand up in Parliament to boast of all Britain is doing? Shame on them.

Dorothy Dennis, Port Ellen, Islay.

FORM-FILLING ALWAYS WITH US

THE grand old British tradition of form-filling continues despite the refugee crisis. I am reminded of being told by a US major that during a battle in France in late 1944 the British major in charge of a supply column refused to give the American tanks the fuel they needed as they did not have the proper paperwork, although the German Panzer units were only a few miles behind them. Fortunately, his second-in-command used his radio to get permission to refuel the tanks to allow them to continue to engage the enemy. As they refuelled, the British major was still complaining about a lack of proper procedures being followed.

His successors seem to be in charge of the Home Office today.

T J Dowds, Cumbernauld.