I was interested to read that Nigel Farage made a statement that we should allow refugees in from the Syrian conflict. It raised an underlying question I have about the distant future. Say we are lucky enough to only lose chunks of the south downs and Anglia in the UK to sea-level rise and flooding in the next few decades. Will we close the borders and guard our Isle, or will we hold out a hand of help to those less fortunate around the world?

I have to admit that neither option really fills me with joy.

Say we close the borders. I have to admit that is where I thought those further on the right were going with the increased support for UKIP. Or maybe Nigel Farage is a lefty. Unfortunately, we are at the moment almost totally dependent on the rest of the world for food. And plastic tat, electronic devices and wine. Could that mean we are held to ransom, like a medieval castle under siege? Or if not, we will at least find that there is less to go around and more demand as the world population peaks, and so we will find our sterling doesn’t go as far.

Or we open shop, help out and allow climate refugees in. We are already very crowded. The green and pleasant land will be crowded out with new house building and farming.

No, I think we should avoid catastrophic climate change.

John Bell

Ordinary Bloke

PS – you may think that Syria hasn’t got much to do with climate change. You may be right. You may be wrong.

PPS – One of the upsides of a free-market capitalist society is that we are able to choose who benefits from our philanthropy. The victims of the inhumanity of Syria need our help.