Referring to Jack Pinkerton's letter of February 1, England lacks an Assembly', it is difficult to know exactly what Jack is saying and maybe this is deliberate, but I sense that it's difficult for Jack to say something in a straight forward way.

Tribe is defined in the dictionary as a social division.

What exactly is the meaning of the sentence: "The human animal is tribal and always will be, even though New Labour wants to change it?"

Maybe he is suggesting that being tribal there are separate identities which must be kept separate? Or perhaps it could mean that we should all learn to respect and appreciate the diversity within our society?

If that is what he means and I'm not entirely sure he does, he must surely agree and applaud the ethos of citizenship being taught in our classrooms.

But if that is the case what does this emotive sentence mean: "How many English must walk the plank of immigration before sanity prevails"?

I suspect that the "English" Jack is referring to is a tribal division. How is that defined? Walking the plank clearly implies a threat, but a threat from whom?

Immigration means to come into, and as we are already here, Jack must be either referring to the English having to emigrate to Scotland (it's a great place and there are hardly any Tories) or more worryingly to immigrants coming to England.

Are these immigrants the threat to the English?

So Jack please tell us, are you for an English Assembly which will allow you to move the immigrants. And who do you think the immigrants are? Or did you mean something else?

Immigration is a serious concern for all of us.

The facts are quite complex and deserve careful consideration.

It is too easy to be either alarmist or dismissive.

This is one area of policy where we should not rush to embrace the first apparently easy answer. Getting it wrong either way would have a disastrous effect on every area of British life.

My belief at the root of this is an economic issue which is itself in a state of constant change. This is why we should mistrust those who first suggest a seemingly simple single answer to this large and complex issue.

So I ask Jack Pinkerton to confirm that his letter was in no way meant as an anti-immigration letter.

If you could also tell us what you actually meant, that too would be helpful.

GUY GHANI Short Lane Stanwell