It was particularly nippy around the Swindon town hall as someone had left the door open to Siberia, and on closer inspection there was a crowd of menacing bearded men, complete with sabres and snow on their boots, parading around. The guys seemed friendly enough to me, or had I dreamt it all up by chance?

‘Ah’ I exclaimed to myself, ‘this must be the Russian threat that Tory Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Phillip Hammond, had been talking about in his piece of Russo-phobic nonsense. In a classic throwback to cold war rhetoric, Hammond was out to convince us all, no doubt at the bequest of his US masters, that we all need to be extremely worried about Russia seeking to modernise her military forces and weapons combined with the increasingly aggressive stance of Russian military, including Russian aircraft around the sovereign airspace of NATO states, which are all significant causes of concern.

Hang on a minute, this bloke Hammond is speaking for men and women in this fair isle of ours and is supposed to be representative of the views of the electorate who brought the coalition to power, and so the question needs to be asked if these views are indeed representative of the majority of the population, or just his personal opinion?

How many SA readers for that matter feel Russia poses a threat to this country or any other? Isn’t it the boot being on the other foot with it being the country under threat, with a provocative US led NATO right up to its borders with the intended goal being the destabilisation of the country and the overthrow of President Putin, as a repeat of what happened in Kiev coup in Ukraine? Is it small wonder Russia is modernising its forces now it is being constantly hounded on its borders. As regards Russian aircraft flying around the sovereign airspace of NATO states, around is the operative word as it is exactly that in that they are in international airspace and obviously need to fly their aircraft somewhere.

I am thankful I was born 10 years after WW2, however from what I have learned we all owe the gallant people of Russia, or the Soviet Union as it was then, a supreme debt of gratitude for being the decisive factor in defeating the ambitions of Hitler’s Nazi scourge. Thus, I find it appallingly sad the US is dictating to other governments, including our own, that Russia is the enemy, whilst at the same time hypocritically subverting and illegally invading other nations seemingly at will.

G A Woodward Nelson Street Swindon