The government needs a proper debate on immigration rather than rush into major policy changes (Report, 23 March). Its decision to provide a fast-tracked citizenship route for the super-rich, while alarming the education sector on restrictions to international students, points to a flawed policy. Unlike those being invited in by the government, students are not migrants; most leave once their education is complete. If we are to be open to the best, this should not be based on the size of your bank account. As the home affairs select committee report on student visas just published concludes, limiting genuine international students could damage Britain's reputation as an international education hub. It is time the government recognised the price it will pay if it does not think carefully about all those that contribute to Britain's success at home and abroad. The opposition should engage in this debate, not shun it.
Chairman, home affairs select committee; Lab, Leicester East
• Your interview with Marine Le Pen asks whether France's Front National has changed under her leadership (Report, 22 March). Le Pen may want to shake off her party's long association with anti-semitism, but all this shows is that the target of the FN's hatred has been refocused. Like her father, Marine Le Pen is an expert in riding on the back of any news event that might generate fear – and press coverage – in her party's favour. A classic example is how she has tried to capitalise on the unfolding Libyan immigration crisis in Lampedusa. We must respond by leading political discussion in a responsible fashion. Le Pen claims FN policies were endorsed by David Cameron's ill-thought-through speech in Munich last month. That should make the prime minister feel queasy, but more importantly, it should act as a lesson to all politicians of the need for a grown-up debate about these most sensitive of issues.
Claude Moraes MEP
Labour, London