IN response to Mrs L Cook (Letters, February 12), who declared that we are 'swamped' with asylum seekers "basically because we are seen as a soft touch," where has she got her information as to why people come to the UK to claim asylum?

The Government has actually decreased the support offered to asylum seekers by forcing them to use stigmatising vouchers, available for use only in designated shops.

Asylum seekers are denied the right to change from the vouchers that, together with a small cash element, makes up only £36.54 a week for a single person to live on.

Despite this and being the brunt of negative racist attitudes from certain sections of society, asylum seekers still come to the UK. Does this not indicate that the number of people seeking asylum here has more to do with situations of unrest in their native countries rather than the benefits or lack thereof that the Government has to offer?

There is a real danger in a readiness to dismiss the vast majority of asylum seekers as 'bogus.' Racial tension is likely to increase and it will also become harder and harder for asylum seekers and refugees to prove their need for protection, as pressure builds on the government to expel as many as possible to pander to the electorate before a general election.

KATY McDERMOTT, Rotherwick Avenue, Chorley.