Stop the immigration drain

The demise of a well respected immigration specialist law firm in London is sad for the partners, staff and, not least, the clients.

Winstanley-Burgess began 28 years ago - not long in the wider history of the profession.

But in that time it had made a considerable reputation, not just in immigration work, but in the wider fields of civil liberties and human rights.

Apart from the local level trauma the firm's closure will create, there is cause for wider concern in the reasons for its demise.

Winstanley-Burgess is not the first high-profile immigration firm to close recently claiming that immigration and asylum work has been rendered unprofitable.

It is ironic that as Britain enters into a war that could create thousands if not hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers, the government has arguably done its best to drive immigration specialists out of work with low legal aid rates and high overheads.

Many Iraqis already come to the UK in search of asylum.

If the government is to join George W Bush's likely attack on the country, it must be prepared - morally and practically - to ensure that future asylum seekers are treated fairly and with due process.

That means ensuring that there are lawyers available to do the work and that they are paid fairly for it.