Why so many English voters are scared

NEIL Mackay (“We must not been led to ruin by hardcore English nationalists”, The Herald, January 29) feels able to diagnose the reasoning behind the majority decision in England in favour of Brexit, and makes some comments about the English in general, based on a phone conversation with an English relative and some statements made by a few Tory politicians.

After living in Scotland for the majority of the last 50 years I would hesitate to pretend to know why those living south of the Border voted as they did. I can make a guess that it was based on different reasons for different people, with two factors perhaps being the most common and nothing to do with English nationalism.

After the Blair Government pretended that mass movement from Eastern Europe would not occur, tens of thousands settled in southern England. This was already the most densely populated region in Europe and even a brief visit will convince you that there are too many people in a very restricted area. England has a land area of just over 50,000 square miles while Scotland’s land area is just over 30,000 square miles, but England has about 10 times the population.

The second reason, I would guess, is the behaviour of a small proportion of the migrants who have entered Britain from all over the world in recent decades. During a recent visit to Norfolk the locals, without prompting, were complaining about the level of thieving from cars and houses by recently arrived Eastern Europeans. They did specify which country they were from. Very recently a Scottish woman who had lived in the Netherlands for many years, and returned to Scotland, made the same unprompted complaint about men from the same Eastern European country, concerning their behaviour on the European mainland.

My own early years were spent in what is now called Waltham Forest, a segment of East London on the Essex border. As a teenager I regarded my home area as one of the most boring places on earth. It was the home of a completely white community, working class in the main, and totally peaceful.

A recent report describes the presence of about 11 drugs gangs in Waltham Forest, the vast majority being first, second or third generation migrants. One gang, said to be the most violent, is run by Somalis; they call themselves the Mali Boys. Although gang members number only a small proportion of the incomers, they have a disproportionate effect on life in the borough, with mugging, rape and murder among their repertoire. Gangs in Waltham Forest from Russia, Lithuania and Poland tend to specialise in prostitution.

I do not think that the English are any more likely to be “hardcore nationalists” than the average Scot, but they have had a lot to adapt to in recent decades and I think that many of them are scared. I would guess that the majority of people in England would like to be independent because the EU insists on the free movement of people. Roger Waigh,

4 The Meadows, Helensburgh.