UNLIKE Mr Osborne (Letters, April 29), I completely support the hundreds of thousands of people who have been demonstrating against Le Pen's Nazi National Front.

The democratic election which preceded Hitler's seizure of power was the last the people of Germany were to experience for a generation, so who can blame the people of France for attempting to ensure that history does not repeat itself?

Mr Osborne repeats the myth that society's ills can be blamed on refugees. But it is not refugees who have privatised our public services; it is not refugees who are putting higher education beyond the grasp of working class children; and it is not refugees who are spending billions of pounds on warfare that would be better spent on welfare.

Frank Ormston,

Waverley Street, York,

...I WOULD love Mr Osborne to define his marvellous phrase "the aboriginal British".

We are a right old mix-up of Danes, Saxons, Celts, Normans and all the other tribes and peoples who have settled here; we all have ancestors who have arrived here within the last 1,500 years and the only people who might be able to claim to be "aboriginal" Britons are the Welsh.

The "wake-up call" we have all received is nothing to do with threats from external influences; rather it has shown us that if moderate people become complacent and fail to vote, then the way is left open to the extremists among us. That is the real threat.

Jane Duke,

Windmill Lane, York.

...MR R Osborne is talking nonsense. People have been migrating to this country since before Roman times; we are all the children of immigrants. That's what made our culture so rich and varied. How can giving refuge to a few thousand desperate families be a threat to anything we care about?

On the other hand, Le Pen and his British National Party allies are a real threat to our democracy. All their rhetoric aims to spread mistrust, division and hate, to make us afraid enough of each other to hand them power. Power they would then use to crush all opposition, just as the Nazis did in Germany.

All of us who care about democracy need to stand together against them.

And by the way; no one has 'banned' the St George flag! I guarantee lots of people will be waving them next month when England - with both black and white players - compete in the World Cup.

Ben Drake,

Danum Road,

Fulford, York.

...ON St George's Day, I drove around much of West Yorkshire in the course of my job. I only saw two English flags flying during the entire day.

Almost every other country celebrates their national day but we English do not - why? We are brainwashed into thinking that it is in some way wrong.

The BBC played Jerusalem and Rule Britannia on the radio but people rang in to complain. They said it was nationalistic, jingoistic, imperialistic and represented a bad and unjust past. What utter rubbish!

I used to have immense pride and respect for England but since 1946 that has almost eroded away. I care little for the English football or cricket teams as they represent a version of England which I find totally unacceptable - and I am not alone.

So much of the great and the good of England has gone now and I suspect that is one of the reasons why so many English people do not celebrate our national day any more.

David Quarrie,

Lynden Way, York.

Updated: 10:23 Wednesday, May 01, 2002