SIR – As Obama continues to bully and threaten BP, he should remember a few uncomfortable truths.

It was the American Government which gave the go-ahead for the very difficult and dangerous deep water drilling in the Gulf, to satisfy their insatiable demand for oil.

An American company, Transocean, owns and operate the rig. An American company, Halliburton, was responsible for the work on the sea bed, and an American company, Cameron International, manufactured the failed blow-out preventer.

Of the 100 or so of workers on the rig only eight were from BP, all the rest were American.

The Torrey Canyon was the American ship responsible for the biggest oil spill in history off the English coast. Hundreds of miles of English and French coast were polluted.

American company Union Carbide was responsible for the worst corporate accident in history. The explosion in Bhopal left thousands dead and an untold number maimed and injured. In both cases, no Americans were ever found guilty.

If BP goes under, then the British and American economy will suffer enormous damage and millions of ordinary people’s pensions in both countries will be decimated.

More truth and a little less political point scoring might be more productive.

Malcolm Wood, Westercroft View, Northowram