OUR government has refused to contribute to rescue services for refugees crammed into unseaworthy boats in the Mediterranean. It seems they are content to let men women and children from North Africa and the Middle East, refugees from war and poverty, to drown rather than write out a (relatively) small cheque to help a Europe wide effort to rescue them. Their logic is that helping them would only encourage others to take such risks - as if such dangerous and often disastrous trips were a casually booked holiday. I find this decision almost historic in its inhumanity, particularly so because of our own incompetent role in the origin of their problems in the Middle East in particular. I know that UKIP have achieved some influence on the basis of demonising immigrants, and the Tories would, clearly, do anything to recover their vote, but deciding to let innocent people die from lack of help which is straightforward to provide is something we should all be utterly ashamed of. It would rather be like shutting accident and emergency departments because keeping them open only makes people more reckless and accident prone. There is only one word which accurately describes the decision not to help drowning refugees and that word is evil.   With this decision, as a nation, that is what we have become.  We must all feel guilty. Dr Colin Bannon Crapstone