I AM very concerned at the number of recent letters damning asylum-seekers and in praise of the BNP.

Economic migrants and asylum-seekers are not the same thing and as one of the richest nations on earth, we should be proud to be able to help those fleeing persecution. Economic migrants are very often fleeing grinding poverty, and wouldn't we all do the same in their position?

It seems to me that some correspondents are blaming asylum-seekers for problems with the benefit and immigration systems. It is easy to blame the asylum-seeker, rather than blaming the system which created the situation in the first place.

Nationalism will always be attractive to some people, by appealing to the human need to belong. From there it is a short step to refusing to help those less fortunate than yourself, to blaming others for your problems, and eventually to fascism and the persecution.

History is littered with the results of unchecked nationalism. These cataclysmic events always started small, with letters to the paper, graffiti, fascist candidates in elections, etc. To the untrained eye these things can seem insignificant at the moment, but make no mistake, the BNP are awaiting their chance. For all that is decent, we should not give them that opportunity in Bury.

JANE LEWIS,

Tottington.