Immigration

He says I implied that Britain has somehow failed as “the world’s immigration social worker.”

I implied nothing of the sort.

The point I was trying to make is that improving pay and working conditions in poor countries could reduce unemployment in the UK by enabling British manufacturers to compete, and also by reducing the imbalance between immigration and emigration.

If workers enjoyed a better standard of living in their own countries, they might be less inclined to seek a better life here.

The blame, I suggested, lies with “powerful international corporations which seek to maximise profits by driving down wages.”

For example, the Apple iPhone is manufactured in China by the Taiwanese multinational company, Foxconn. Employees work very long hours for low pay and are subjected to humiliating disciplinary action if they fail to meet production targets.

If the iPhone was made in the US by American workers, the production cost would almost double.

Would that put Apple out of business? Hardly – it would merely reduce the gross profit margin on the iPhone from a whopping 72 per cent to a still enviable 46 per cent.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.