Sir, It is a shame that the English don’t have the same fierce pride for their country as they do for their football team.
I have just returned from the South West of France. The French are not flying the Tricolour from their cars or houses. Their supermarkets, however, are full of local produce (if it’s not in season you can’t buy it), they drive French cars, their grass verges are not knee-deep in litter, their streets are washed down at night, every kilometre or so there are recycling facilities for paper, tin, glass and plastic and their TV channels are not overloaded with documentaries about people trying to emigrate to make a new life elsewhere.
France is not without its own problems, but the French obviously have more of a passion for their country and the environment they live in than they do for a bunch of blokes running around kicking a football.
C. TAYLOR
Nottingham