I HAVE discovered that, to be truly British to the very core of one's being, you must live in a foreign country as part of the "ethnic minority".

Many Asians, Jamaicans and other immigrants in our big cities and in the rest of the world will, I'm sure, agree with this theory.

Homesickness, or curiosity felt by those born far from their roots will always prevail. The ideal of "When in Rome do as the Romans" is utter rubbish; we cling to our mother country more so than those actually living there permanently.

As the daughter of a soldier, Brummie born and bred, but posted abroad in 1925, I was sent to a strict Victorian boarding school in the Himalayan mountains.

For 13 years I was taught to respect and love all things British. The Union Jack was treated with reverence, the traditions of our homeland were sacrosanct; I was inordinately proud of our Empire (before its demise), our justice and fair play; our armed forces and police; our Christianity and our loyalty to King and country.

Independence for India/Pakistan in 1946 brought me with my family back to Great Britain in the last ship to leave Bombay. I was 17 years old and had never experienced the joy of being able to walk on British soil.

Now having passed my allotted span of three score years and 10, I still feel as I did then. This will always be my "land of hope of glory". I am so lucky to have returned home.

Sympathies

My sympathies however, lie with those people who yearn for their homeland as I did and who, like my compatriots, are trying to create their own culture in a foreign environment and yet accepting the hospitality and union of their host country.

Of one thing I am absolutely sure. My heart is heavy with sadness because my beloved country is being dragged, kicking and screaming into the jaws of a totalitarian European Superstate by this government.

We are losing our laws, our traditions and above all, our democracy. I'm glad to have known the Great Britain of my day and happy that I will have but a few years in which I must endure the humiliation of the looming demise of Great Britain.

JUNE ALEXANDER,

Ross-on-Wye,

Herefordshire.