PAUL Naylor's letter (Letters, October 31, 'Looking after our own first') troubled me greatly.

The responsibility for each of the problems Mr Naylor highlights lies squarely at the feet of the current, and previous, governments, not refugees fleeing war-ravaged countries. Families aren't escaping battered Syrian villages to scoop up Mr Naylor's out-of-date pasta from the local food bank, they're desperate people seeking help and I'm proud that the vast majority of "our own people" are so keen to help them.

It's worth remembering we live in the fifth-richest nation on the planet and we could easily afford to tackle all of the social ills mentioned, but governments choose not to. Instead, the wealth is squirrelled away by the rich and the powerful and Mr Naylor would do well to express his frustration upwards, not downwards towards the most vulnerable.

I hope he took time to the read the letter, on the same page, from Trevor Avery, director of the Lake District Holocaust Project, which reminds us of Cumbria's proud history in welcoming refugees; in this case the 300 Jewish children, many of whom had been in Auschwitz who came to the Lake District to recover after the war. It was a reminder of the true character of "our own people".

Mark Arrowsmith

Kendal