With reference to Ian McClumpha's April 12 letter "Wrong way to treat people," concerning Japan's paying redundant South American workers to return home, may I say I think this is an excellent idea, as this will nip possible future social problems in the bud: It is far better for such people to be unemployed in Peru and Brazil than in Japan.

McClumpha (who is writing, I see, from Scotland — a long way from the "multicultural" nightmare of my hometown, London) says that the British "government would be hounded out of office if it tried to pay people of British ancestry from the Falklands or Gibraltar, or other colonies and protectorates to go home and never come back."

I'm a little mystified why he chose these two locations: Gibraltar has a population of 30,000, and the Falklands 3,000 - they aren't the problem: the tens of millions in Britain from the Third World are. McClumpha states "You welcomed these people to Japan . . . ." (Really? Did the man in the street in either Tokyo or London have any say in the matter?), and continues "they worked hard for you . . . ." But surely they simply came for a job, and thus would have worked "hard" or otherwise for anyone. This is typical of the cant I frequently find on this subject.

brian clacey