HOW ridiculous it was of Blackburn Conservative councillor Graham Pound to state that Britain is a 'soft touch' regarding asylum seekers (Letters, February 14). If this is so, why has every country in western Europe such a problem?

Belgium, Holland, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark all have more asylum applications per 1,000 population than the UK.

Even Australia, which has similar policies to the Tories regarding asylum seekers, still has large numbers of applicants.

The Tory policy to detain all asylum seekers would require 50 new detention centres. Where would they be? Who would pay for them?

The government recently proposed one new centre in Kent -- and, guess what, it was opposed by the Tories.

As long as there are wars, strife, famine and economically-deprived countries, there will always be people seeking better lives for themselves. Did Coun Pound not expect that the west's bombing of Iraq, Kosovo, Serbia, etc would cause problems of asylum/economic migration?

COUNCILLOR DAVE SMITH

(Sunnyhurst Ward), Avondale Road, Darwen.