Regarding Nick Wood's June 12 letter, "Whiff of hypocrisy in gate-tending," which referred to my June 5 letter on foreign workers ("Hold guest workers to a timeline"): Wood uses rather emotive language such as guest workers being "sent packing when their contracts expire."
I see nothing wrong at all with giving such people a contract of set length, after which they would be required to return to their home country where they could then, of course, re-apply to be employed in Japan. This arrangement would have great advantages for both sides, as the contractual conditions, including salary, accommodation, leave, sick pay, health insurance, immigration status etc. would have to be clearly set down in writing and agreed to from the very beginning. Surely, that's vastly preferable to the situation at present!
Wood concedes that "Despite many setbacks, my country, Britain, has endeavored to address and respect the needs of its diverse communities and has developed into a vibrant multicultural nation." A matter of opinion, of course.
I live in south London, where 90 percent of the now very high level of street crime is committed by immigrants and the descendants of recent immigrants. We are also spending huge amounts of money attempting to counter possible terrorist acts by the imported Muslim population. Incidentally, the British people have never at any point agreed to being a "multicultural nation"; in fact, their opinion on the subject has never even been canvassed. Will the Japanese people be luckier?