As a ‘cuddle bear’ liberal, I must take issue with Venk Shenoi’s shameful letter to you recently, where he advocates allowing people to drown in the Mediterranean, many of them women with babies, rather than run the risk of them ending up in the UK.

As an immigrant himself, or a descendent of such, one would have hoped that Mr. Shenoi would show a little more humanity but it seems that this part of the British psyche, he has yet to acquire.

The British do not leave desperate people to their fate on the high seas Mr. Shenoi. We rescue them, it’s part of our maritime heritage. I for one am extremely proud of our Royal Navy and the work they are carrying out in the Med. and long may they do so.

It seems to me, the way it stands at the moment is that if you live in Somalia, are good at football, you can come and live in this country, play in the premier league and become a millionaire. But if you are an ordinary man, also living in Somalia and your family are starving and victims of a corrupt state, you are not wanted in the UK.

For what its worth, in articles in the quality press recently, (not the Sun and the Daily Mail) it states that since the British government has introduced changes to the benefit system and announced that migrants will be re-patriated. If found to be not genuine asylum seekers, many of the people waiting in Calais are now beginning to give up their attempts to cross the channel, and to apply for asylum in France and Germany instead, where they receive more of a welcome, even French lessons.

So it could be that, to his shame, David Cameron’s strategy is working and Mr. Shenoi’s letter has completely missed the boat, excuse the pun.

– P. Young, Chepstow.