THE old saying “Look before you leap” immediately comes to mind when reading the letter (July 22) by D R Smith, only this time it should read “Think before you put pen to paper or hand to computer”.

He accuses me of living in the past when I make such statements that we were a happier community in those days.

He seems to resent the fact I had a happy childhood and goes on to mention his miserable job of scrubbing doorsteps in winter months. We were a little more inventive and ran our own business selling fertilizer (horse manure) at tuppence a bucket to take us to the cinema on Saturdays, and were happy to do so!

He is quick to point out the patched clothing, yes that was true, and the cardboard insoles for our shoes, (we actually had linoleum, it lasted longer).

OK we no longer tolerate such things but I swear we were happier back then (but that doesn’t imply that I want such times back!) Mr Smith decries the old times and then he goes on about the wages of today not being enough, (I say the money is there for those who want to earn it).

It’s the cash that’s handed out to those who wouldn’t know what the word “work” meant that I object to the non-existence of, being one of the good points of yesteryear.

The wages weren’t enough then either, you got what you worked for. The only difference is that there was no benefit or support to fall back on then.

So it’s no good decrying those days and then moaning about the wages of today.

Then he has to have a dig at UKIP, a subject he obviously knows little or nothing about otherwise he wouldn’t need to fall back on the old worn out “One issue policy” assertion.

As for the so-called peace and harmony he seems to believe the EU has brought us, I would suggest he casts his thoughts towards Ukraine (and please don’t suggest they are not part of the EU).

You can only make Europe a better place to live if you work to improve each country in turn instead of allowing free access to your own country, a freefor- all for everyone to seek a better life in someone else’s country, a policy we are now all paying dearly for, a victim of our own folly.

L A O’BEE, Southampton.