I refer to the letter by Kevin Hodson titled ‘Realist not a racist’ (August 13).

He seems to believe I think he is a racist. In my previous correspondence, I was careful not to use that epithet. However, I do believe he has a fixation about immigration, particularly regarding those who profess the religion of Islam. This is borne out in two ways.

Firstly, he seems to have forgotten that my original article was in response to his first letter which, in my view, blamed the EU for the ills he saw as besetting the UK. His subsequent contributions have been entirely directed at the consequences of Muslim immigration.

Secondly, in retailing a list of terrorist incidents in Europe he only refers to those where perpetrators who consider themselves Islamists were involved.

A realist, such as he claims to be, would have sought to put these incidents in some sort of context and would have mentioned such examples of murder and mayhem as the German pilot who decided to take his passengers with him when committing suicide. He might also have mentioned the 77 Norwegians killed by Anders Breivik or, closer to home, the Hungerford, Dunblane and, most recently, the Cumbrian massacres.

Inexplicably for an ex-serviceman he makes no mention of the murderous campaign by the Provisional IRA.

Others may judge, if they wish, whether he is a racist, an Islamophobe or simply being realistic.

For my part, I will decline any further comment since the original discussion on Britain’s membership of the EU seems to have been completely overtaken.