International city (From The Oxford Times)

International city

8:00am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Letters

Sir – So nearly half of all births in Oxford in 2010 were by mothers not born in the UK (Report, February 2). It underlines is how young, successful and international Oxford is. Whether it’s the universities or the BMW car plant, what attracts people to Oxford is job opportunity. What keeps people here, and encourages them to have children, is the prosperity, tolerance and beauty of our city.

My mother was born in what is now Sri Lanka. My grandchildren have a mother who is French. Thank goodness Oxford people have such a worldwide background.

But a word of caution. In my lifetime world population has more than doubled. Everyone should think long and hard before embarking on a large family.

John Tanner, Board Member for a Cleaner, Greener Oxford, Oxford