Madam,

Mr Tottle’s letter (‘House prices in England little different to those in Gwynedd’, last week’s Cambrian News) is factually incorrect. He doesn’t need to go to Stoke, Birmingham or Liverpool for the figures; he can get them from the Welsh Government, Snowdonia National Park or Gwynedd County Council. All these authorities monitor and publish their findings on the affordability of housing for local people and promote policies accordingly. It is just not true that house prices in Gwynedd are the same as in England.

With regard to his second point, is Mr Tottle saying that if you have “led the world for 200 years or so” you have the right to make xenophobic comments? Barmouth’s ex-mayor and his husband are leaving Wales because of a rise in xenophobia (Cambrian News, 9 March, ‘Ex-mayor pushed out by Brexit’). That doesn’t sound like we’re a country leading the world to me. Either, immigration is wrong and we should both go ‘home’ or, it is acceptable and Mr Tottle should be speaking out to defend the ex-mayor’s husband and make him feel welcome as he always has done until now.

People need to look to history when hatred and fear were exploited and look to where it led the world. Debating immigration is one thing but promoting hatred and xenophobia is quite another and we should know the difference.

Yours etc

Maggie Francis

Arthog.