SIR – Re Mr Hanson ’s letter expressing true honest, down to earth sentiments (T&A, August 15).

In my opinion, the governments we have had to endure over the last 40 years at least have forgotten – or more likely chosen to ignore – the fact that we are geographically a very small island made of coal and surrounded by fish.

We are unable to mine the coal and are prohibited from fishing large areas of our native seas due to overfishing by other countries.

Yet,we donate vast sums of public money to foreign governments, we pay to recondition foreign jails to make them more comfortable and we pay benefits to families who came to our country but returned home once they had registered with the welfare system.

Add to this the vast sums of money lost through the NHS by people from other countries taking advantage of our treatment procedure and receiving care for nothing, and you can understand why people will risk everything to smuggle themselves into this country.

I remember a phrase I heard a few years ago: “Until we have sorted our own backyard out, we have no business being in someone else’s.”

Never is this more true than today.

John Hargreaves, Cooper Lane, Bradford