JOHN YOUNG (HAS, May 6) dismisses the report I mentioned from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and suggests I “look at the facts,”

including the fact that “economic growth is in dire straits”.

But the OBR predicts that zero net migration would lead to slower economic growth, and cause public sector debt to rise from its current level of around 73 per cent of gross domestic product to 180 per cent by 2060, whereas ongoing immigration would reduce the debt to 50 per cent.

Continuing high levels of immigration are not sustainable in the longer term, but it is plainly irrational to blame immigrants for our economic woes.

Mr Young also refers to a report from Professor David Coleman of Migration Observatory, who suggests that by 2070, white British people might no longer be in the majority (though they would remain the largest ethnic group).

Given Prof Coleman’s previous position as a founder-member of Migrationwatch, I take this with a pinch of salt; but it’s not a prediction I find alarming.

Given Britain’s imperial history, is not surprising that we are an ethnically diverse nation, and that the fastest-growing ethnic minority is mixed-race.

The ethnicity or skin colour of my fellow citizens does not concern me. The important question is whether immigrants and their descendants can feel part of an inclusive society.

Despite the failures of integration in some areas, and obstruction by some Far-Right groups, I think the British are better than most at developing such a society.

Pete Winstanley Durham.