JOHN MADEN (March 11) claims that immigration in the UK will lead to “considerable swathes of greenfield sites” being encroached on to accommodate people coming here and asks what the Green Party would do.

Mr Maden could start by being more honest with the figures – while 624,000 people may have moved to the UK in the year ending September 2014, an estimated 327,000 people actually emigrated, giving a net migration figure of around 297,000.

Our freedom to move within the EU for work is matched by the freedom of EU citizens to contribute to our economy and society by working here, which is beneficial for all.

We should recognise the net economic benefit to our economy from migrants and value the diversity of cultures that have been brought to the UK by over 2,000 years of immigration.

As for the situation with housing, the current crisis has roots going back 30 years with causes that have nothing to do with immigration.

It cannot be tackled by trying to blame it on one particular group in society.

Solving the housing crisis, in Oxford and elsewhere, requires a range of approaches: these include making better use of existing developed land, such as using empty buildings (there are 700,000 empty homes in the UK) and filling empty spaces in business parks, and building above car parks.

We also need to build more social housing, and ensure that new homes go to those who actually need them, rather than property speculators.

ANN DUNCAN Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford East Magdalen Road, Oxford