MADAM – I write in response to the letter from Chris Owen “We are all part of the human race”.

Yes we are but why does it appear that this is the responsibility of only the British?

We are a very generous people, spiritually and materially.

We give our time unswervingly to help others and donate extremely generously whenever called upon to do so both at home and for disasters abroad.

We do not and never have simply “looked after our own interests” in this particular regard as Chris Owen claims.

Particularly with regard to the whole of Africa we built for them an infrastructure on a par (then) to our own.

They did not want us as a colonial power and kicked us out.

Tribal factions took our place and that infrastructure was destroyed, as it smacked of colonialism.

Ukip is quite right to want to slash the aid budget, most of it is wasted and the rest goes to countries who do not need it.

An example is India, which is able to finance a nuclear programme and a space programme but unwilling to build a sewage system.

M R Holland

Whitminster