We must look after the shop properly

LETTER - The Office of National Statistics is expected to release figures showing that over the last decade the UK has accepted four million immigrants and lost two million Brits through emigration.

Many obvious reasons have been put forward for this exodus, I can nail it down to just two - a famine of common sense and moral courage.

Regulation is necessary in most things, without it, nothing works properly for very long and if the population explosion in the UK continues then the pressures on housing, transport, health and education will result in an even worse degradation of living standards that will benefit no-one.

We simply haven't looked after the shop properly for the last 10 years. Moral courage involves saying "No". I'm sick of the clamour for printing everything in several languages. It's nonsense. I was always taught the old adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

That there is so little requirement for translations in Mandarin tells a story.

It's the most widely spoken language in the world, but perhaps the admirable example of the Chinese community is one we should all aspire to.

Robert Jenkins, Stirchley