Dear Nigel Farage,
21st October 2014
Telling people the problems we face are all caused by others, be they immigrants or Europeans is not very nice, certainly not true and not very British. Locking down Britain's borders will damage trade and make everyone poorer. We are a trading nation. Your message is irresponsible and is a disingenuous route to power. No political force in Britain has traded in this kind of politics since the 1920s, infact WW2 was all about defeating a country whose people had been told they were being thwarted by outsiders. Blaming 'others' is a route to power that leads to disaster because it has no positive aim. You ridicule politicians of all parties who are attempting to negotiate the future and label their fractious democratic discussion as weak. You are promoting apathy in the political process while energizing your own supporters. I am unclear what your vision is? 5 years down the line what would be the values of the UK government? It is this that scares me. What unites human beings is huge and wonderful what divides human beings is small and mean. The politics of division is unattractive. In 2015 there will be an election. I think elections should be huge celebrations of opinion. Who ever people vote for I hope we vote for hope and for an open society. I don't think you offer anything positive
Bob + Roberta Smith.