Alison Denham, of Vincents Road, Kingsbridge, writes:

While I admire Gary Edgecombe for putting his head above the parapet, Gazette, February 26, I have to counter his rhetoric.

I don’t doubt that Gary ­wishes the victims of the war and oppression no harm, but his ‘us and them’ attitude is certainly discriminatory and it is therefore no surprise that he finds himself being branded a racist.

Every European and Middle Eastern country’s facilities are under strain from the refugee crisis and the UK does not have a special case. Every day I consider myself lucky to have a roof over my head and food and utensils to cook with, while my fellow human beings on my doorstep in Calais and across Europe live out unrelenting doom.

That’s the difference between myself and Gary Edgecombe. I see an interconnected human­kind, whereas Gary sees ‘our own citizens’ and ‘these folks’.

In conclusion, there are two quotations that resonated with me. One from a young local volunteer in Hungary, who said in broken English of the refugee crisis: ‘It’s what we deserve. We do there [bomb], we get here [refugees].’ Then, more famously, the Pope’s response to Donald Trump: ‘Anyone who builds walls and not bridges is not a Christian.’