Kevin Hodkin was clearly not enamoured with the UK’s membership of the European Union (June 25). It seems for him that all the ills of the UK, as he sees them, can be laid at the door of the community.

He tells us that he was a submariner – though what that has to do with the subject in hand I don’t know. I spent nearly 30 years in the armed services but rarely mention it as it is usually, as here, not relevant.

He then tells us he voted against entry in 1973. That would have been difficult as entry was never subjected to a popular vote. He may, of course, have voted against membership a couple of years later when there was a referendum and that suggests he was anti-EU from the beginning and has been inclined to see that institution as the root of all UK’s problems ever since.

This black and white view of the world, as it were, is clear from his comments on the Peak District, the fishing industry and the racial mix of Derby.

There is no doubt that the population mix in Derby has changed radically since the millennium. Nevertheless, whatever one’s view about this, the major ethnic minorities come from the Indian sub-continent. It is perverse to blame this on the EU rather than, if blame is to be attributable, to home-grown politicians.

Leaving the EU will not affect this migration one iota. However a sense of perspective is not to be expected of someone who claims that Derby “has a mosque on nearly every street corner”.

The city has a population of 250,000 and is, thus, quite large. One would think from his letter that there must be hundreds of mosques yet it appears that the total is around 14.

Still, ironically, Hodkin has retreated from his home country to become an immigrant himself and has thus benefitted from being an EU citizen in Malta.

The population mix in Derby has changed radically since the millennium. The major ethnic minorities come from the Indian sub-continent

The decline in the fishing industry is more nuanced than he seems to imply. In part it is due to overfishing, something the EU has tried to tackle though not with the greatest of success. In part it is a problem that has been evident for some time – the Cod Wars, for instance, pre-date membership of the EU.

Furthermore the British fishing industry was slow to modernise and paid the cost when in competition with fishermen from other European nations. It is unlikely that we shall see a resurgent fishing industry in the wake of Brexit.

The Peak District is one of the most lovely areas of England but to suggest its agricultural decline is all due to past French butter and milk mountains is very much an over simplification. Much of the area is rugged with poor soil. Farming was often on a small scale and in modern terms is largely uneconomic.

It requires much effort and hard graft to earn a living and more and more sons and daughters are not prepared to make the sacrifices needed by taking over from their parents. Though, of course, there is funding via the EU it is still a hard life.

The British government has encouraged diversification which has included the holiday cottages which Hodkin decries. There is no going back and leaving the EU will, once again, not make any difference. Nor will it make much difference to the low prices the dairy industry has been getting in recent years. This is more due to overproduction within the UK and, of course, the power of supermarkets. The latter will not be changed by Brexit either.

I understand that Hodkin would be upset by stories of Muslims spitting at service people, and I would be too. Whatever the truth behind these stories there is undoubtedly a problem with some communities who live in self-imposed ghettos and have difficulty adjusting to western culture.

That is a major challenge for UK politicians but I fail to see that this should prevent the UK from accepting what is a small number, compared to the overall population, of Syrian refugees who are fleeing because their lives are at risk.

To suggest we do so reminds me of the anti-Semitism that opposed the resettlement of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and makes me wonder why those who are so keen to defend what they see as their Christian culture always forget the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Mike Wagstaff is a former soldier and county emergency planning officer for Lancashire who has resided in Gozo since retirement 14 years ago.

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