Sir – With reference to Judit Brody’s response to my letter of August 8, data from the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses available online at the National Statistics website shows that the population in England and Wales increased from 51 million (1.6 million non-British) to 56 million (18.9 million non-British), 10.7 million had left and 16.1 million had entered the country permanently.

The comments on benefits and facilities offered in the UK are based on how they were set up – residents should contribute for a full lifetime, not just for a few years, to have entitlement to all the benefits.

The comments on allegiance to our flag were based on the fact that people who enter the UK should have an understanding of the UK political system, economy and history, so that they contribute to society. This may well apply to a lot of UK residents as well, as to my knowledge our system of governance is not taught at school.

Most people who settle in the UK are coming because of the benefits our system has to offer. An entry survey would confirm why they are coming to the UK.

My belief is that a lot of people have left the UK, because of losing their jobs or work and costs of living in Britain. It would be a good idea to do an exit survey on this as well.

I do not agree with the comments made in the response that there are a lot of cheats in the House of Commons. Most MPs are just following the system set.

I am pleased that my letter prompted a reaction and I do hope this opens up a proper debate on how we run our country – after all the people coming in can see what a great place it is.

Surely it is time we started to value and control immigration matters better. We should all put a lot more back into the system while we live here to make it a better place. I hope this letter has cleared up any misunderstanding.

James Robertshaw, High Street, Witney