MRS M Reynolds (Argus Letters 28.9.15.) repeats the old argument that because our own society has problems  we shouldn’t help those who are even worse off. Given that our society will never be perfect, the logic of her argument is that we should never help anybody at all. Not only will charity begin at home it will end there as well.  
I agree with her on one point. As Paul Flynn has correctly pointed out,  asylum seekers are not evenly shared out around the country. Simon Danczuk MP has pointed out that while his constituency in Rochdale has 1,000 asylum seekers, George Osborne has only four in his and David Cameron none at all. 
This goes to show that with fair distribution we can take many more.
Mrs Reynolds accuses those who wish to welcome refugees of being ‘do-gooders’. 
Personally,  I would rather be seen as somebody who tried to do good in a crisis than as somebody who stood by and did nothing while desperate people needed our help. 

Peter Strong
Deepweir
Caldicot