D E Margrett thinks we are at war (You Say, Wednesday, April 6). Perhaps I am not paying attention as I walk around, but there seems to be a distinct lack of bombs going off, civil disorder, or similar.

Unlike say, 10 or 20 years ago, when there were bombs going off in London, recruiting sergeants being shot in Derby, army barracks being bombed in Shropshire, MPs being blown up in their cars and hotels, several million Soviet troops on the other side of the Iron Curtain, and the ever present threat of nuclear annihilation.

So why, after all this time, should we suddenly adopt a siege mentality in our own homeland? Call me old-fashioned but I quite like the idea that if I were to be charged with an offence then my accuser should have to prove my guilt.

The idea of house arrest, and only being able to speak to one or two other people at a time, reminds me of Donald Woods' experiences in 1970s South Africa as depicted in the film Cry Freedom. Hardly something we should be aspiring to.

If you want to feel the "safety" of "internal security legislation", then try emigrating to a country that practises detention without trial. As for me, I'll take my chances with vigilance and good old British freedom.

BENJAMIN EATON,

Stourport-on-Severn,

Worcestershire.