MADAM - I have noticed a number of negative comments on your letters page recently about ‘incomers’.

However the writers may see themselves, they are betraying UKIP-style bigotry and intolerance which are not in keeping with the prevailing mood in our community.

Stroud and its surrounding towns and villages are rightly proud of our inclusiveness and the welcome we extend to new neighbours wise enough to see what a great place this is to live, to raise a family and to enjoy life.

We should all stop to consider for a moment the beneficial effect of new people — wherever they are from — on our culture and our daily life. Britain’s history consists of little more than wave after wave of new people since the first settlers arrived from the Continent thousands of years ago, after all.

The UKIP-style world view is not only repugnant but also utterly illogical.

Could you please apply a little more discretion in selecting the correspondence you publish?

It seems a shame that our local paper so often repeats and therefore sustains the caustic views of an uninformed minority.

Tom Saul

Nailsworth

Editor’s note: We are proud to live in a democratic society and one in which people are free to voice their opinions, whether or not we agree with them.

The SNJ’s letters pages are an open forum and we will continue to welcome all points of view.