UKIP has nothing to offer this country

Tom may be surprised to learn I do not make up the stuff I write about. To be honest, you couldn’t really make up some of the stuff we learn about UKIP.

The statistics and facts included in my previous letter were taken from a survey in the Independent on May 21st, 2014. A similar article appeared in the Times around the same time.

In this survey the records of all 76 European political parties and all 764 members of the European parliament were examined and put in order of effectiveness, in terms of attendance, asking questions, voting, etc. UKIP came bottom of all 76 parties. Three UKIP members were found to be in the bottom six (out of 764) and two of these included the UKIP leader and his deputy. UKIP and its members were found to be the laziest.

In this same survey, it found the two top UKIP members each received over £600,000 in salary and allowances (not including expenses as Tom kindly pointed out). Tom then asks “what I think is achieved by (UKIP members) turning up to the EU parliament?”

I find it incredible the chairman of any political party doesn’t know the answer to this very important question. Your members were elected to represent the people of this country at the EU parliament and for which they clearly get very well paid. Why did these people stand for the EU parliament if not to fight for the people who voted for them? That is what MPs are supposed to do. Mr Commis feels UKIP voters understand how hard working their MEPs are. If they Google the above survey they will see this is clearly not the case.

Finally, Mr Commis corrects me to say Neil Hamilton is not deputy leader of UKIP but failed to add he is, in fact, deputy chairman of UKIP. My mistake, but the disgraced ex-Conservative MP remains a very senior member of the UKIP leadership team. However Mr Hamilton, a man who seems to have no embarrassment about his “dodgy” past, continues in his old ways and, according to Channel 4, last week is again in trouble and has been accused of fiddling his expenses, this time from his new party! And this man wants to be a UKIP member of parliament. Unbelievable.

So Tom, I have absolutely no misconceptions about UKIP and obviously will not be voting UKIP in May. Get serious. In fact, the very opposite will be true as I will spend all my efforts in persuading family and friends not to be taken in by a group of “blinkered” individuals. UKIP has nothing to offer me or this country and their MEPs clearly prove that every single day.

Gerard McCabe

Colne.