I am proud of our Government’s response to the famine in Somalia and its record on foreign aid.

The UN doesn’t easily declare a famine, and the last one in Somalia was 20 years ago. It means that people are dying.

If they were here in Oxford then, of course, we would look after them. Yet, somehow, people can see the pictures on TV and still complain that we give away too much money.

Last week the UK Government promised £80m – which is little over a pound for every person in the country. That doesn’t strike me as very much at all.

Who do we think should come to their rescue? Their neighbours, Ethiopia and Kenya, are affected by the same drought but are hosting tens of thousands of Somali refugees. We shouldn’t leave it to them to shoulder the burden alone.

Charity may begin at home but as we have the welfare state, free education and healthcare, I think our charity should be generously extended to where it is needed. If we cannot afford it then we are a lot poorer than I thought.

PETER HENNESSY Hugh Allen Crescent Oxford