Will we be a third-world country?

LETTER: Mr Emyr Davies wonders why call centres always seem to be staffed by "immigrants", and wonders if this amounts to "discrimination of (sic) indigenous Britishers" (Star Letters, June 24).

In fact, it is almost certain that these are not immigrants calling, but actual native Indians, calling all the way from India. Yes – in this day and age it is actually cheaper for a company to set up a call centre on the other side of the world, rather than call its customers from their own country.

This raises a serious point. We live in a rapidly changing world, with a global marketplace. The UK can no longer compete in many areas with other countries which are able to offer goods and services far more cheaply. A key example of this is manufacturing.

Why should a company choose to make cars, computers or even kettles in Britain, when it can do it cheaper abroad?

In nature, any species which cannot adapt to a changing environment will perish.

Likewise, the UK must adapt to the changing economic environment we live in, and not cling nostalgically to what we have been good at in the past; else we are destined to have the status of a third-world country.

Sean Bayley

Donnington