MOST people who are concerned about current levels of immigration are not racists.

They are worried about jobs, housing, public services, social cohesion, etc., and their concerns deserve open and honest debate, despite the fact that the right-wing tabloids regularly propagate lies and half-truths about the impact of immigration.

A minority, however, oppose immigration on blatantly racist grounds. For example, there are far-right groups which seek to preserve the racial purity of an imagined indigenous “white British” race. Such racism is to be unequivocally condemned.

Consequently, many commentators, including several HAS correspondents, have complained that free speech on immigration and race is stifled by “political correctness” and the fear of being accused of racism.

This is a trick; an attempt to discredit and silence those who disagree by pre-emptively labelling them as politically-correct cranks.

Typically, such people preface their remarks with “I’m not allowed to say this, but...” or “I’ll probably be accused of racism, but...” and then proceed to say exactly what they like.

Immigration remains, as always, an issue which is widely debated, occupying acres of newsprint and many hours of airtime on radio and TV. A search of The Northern Echo website reveals nearly 8,000 articles on immigration over the past 17 years. Not bad for a subject we aren’t allowed to talk about.

Pete Winstanley, Durham