AT their annual rally in Brighton, the Liberal Democrats called for an amnesty for a quarter of a million illegal immigrants, saying it would be absurd to cost the taxpayer £11,000 to remove each one of them.

How very typically liberal - charging the taxpayer for their removal.

This burden should not fall on the long-suffering taxpayer.

When caught, each illegal immigrant should be placed in a detention centre and made to do work up to the value of the cost of their removal.

This harebrained Lib Dem scheme would lead to an increase in illegal immigration. Anybody thinking of voting Lib Dem in future elections should remember that by voting for them they are giving their approval to such dangerous ideas.

Trevor Agnew, Darlington.