It's true, though.

You only have to look at each escalation in bombing to see that the RAF responded to German action.

Only bombs on warships at sea at the start of the war.

First attack on German soil following attack on the Orkneys that killed a British civilian (James Isbister). The British raid was a mirror image of the German attack. The Germans bombed naval facilities in the Orkney islands, the British bombed a seaplane base on the island of Sylt.

First attacks on Germany proper on the 10/11 May, following German bombing of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

First attacks east of the Rhine on the night of 15/16 May, following the attack on Rotterdam.

First attack on Berlin on 25/26 August, following repeated minor attacks on London.

First area attack on 15/16 December, ordered as a response to Coventry.

Every escalation in bombing until that point was carried out by Germany. Britain went on in 1942 to escalate bombing further, with 1000 bomber raids on Germany. But the RAF merely increased the scale of bombing, using methods and tactics the Germans had pioneered.

Well, the people in charge of German bombing were Goering and Hitler. They decided what was bombed, and how. And yes, I would describe them as barbarians.