I AM sorry that Mr Winter was insulted by my rhetoric in my recent letter about his political stance on immigration but I can assure him that I have been insulted by real experts for my political views over the years and it's all grist in the mill.

I can assure him also that my figures on EU immigration did refer to whole of the United Kingdom and not just England.

Also the word xenophobia refers to a morbid or melancholic dislike of foreigners, rather than the 'hatred' as referred to by Mr Leppington in his riposte to my opinions.

It is an unfortunate development in modern politics that the word 'immigration' has become a dirty word that is being used as a vehicle towards political power by those at the extreme, egged on by the denizens of the right-wing press.

Perception not fact appears to be the order of the day once again, when will we ever learn?

History is littered with the tragic results of 'intolerance' on a large political scale and we as a nation must resist the temptation to follow those that have 'easy answers'.

Of course there is a problem with unfettered immigration into any country and some areas of the UK feel under pressure.

That is generally recognised but it must be solved in a humanitarian fashion not by knee jerk reactions or inflammatory utterances by those who are greedy for power.

In the EU freedom of movement migration argument it seems to be convenient for those 'against' to forget that there is emigration from, as well as immigration to, this country. British consular authorities estimate in the latest available figures that in contrast to the estimated 2.3 million EU citizens in the UK there are 2.21 million British citizens living in the other EU countries.

What will happen to them if the barriers go up and they all suddenly need visas, work permits and no longer qualify for free medical services?

Also, over 400 British citizens emigrated abroad every day in 2013 and over 5.5 million British-born citizens are living around the world at this very moment.

In the Forest of Dean we don't have a large influx of people from abroad to scapegoat – our present problems as a community have been created by those governing over us, locally and nationally, who give the impression that they totally misunderstand or don't care 'what we are all about'.

Thank goodness that HOOF and Baroness Jan Royall have managed to apply the brakes to a large extent in the last week.

In today's world, internationally, we do need to belong to a powerful club and in spite of all its frustrating faults, I support our membership of the European Union, unfashionable as it is. As a famous American General once said: "I would rather be inside the tent p...... out, than outside the tent p..... in." 

– John Belcher, Joyford Hill.