Matthew Goodwin's and Robert Ford's insightful analysis of male working-class support for Nigel Farage (Comment, 6 March) left out two key considerations. First, the feeling of being left behind is now engulfing growing sections of the middle class and their children; and second, the need to consider what change of policy direction could tackle this sense of personal and community insecurity. Key to addressing these problems is not just to reject job-killing austerity. A sense of being left behind is also a factor in manufacturing and service jobs being relocated to countries with lower taxes and wages. House prices are being yanked out of people's reach, partly by the uncontrolled flow of foreign capital into empty luxury properties or buy-to-let in the name of foreign investment. Finally, the way UK population growth, both recent and projected, will make it so much more difficult to deal with social, food and energy shortfalls must be faced.
What should change is the acceptance of open borders to the flow of goods, services and money. In Europe that also applies to open borders to the flow of people. All polls show most people in the UK want a reduction in population growth and present levels of immigration. A sensible desire given the incredible official projection that the numbers living in the UK will increase by 10 million over the next 25 years, and that around 60% of this is expected to come from immigration and the children of migrants. The only way to see off the extreme right here and in Europe is for the politically active to provide a programme to protect and rebuild domestic economies to provide a secure future for all, not just the very wealthy 1%.
*Colin Hines*
East Twickenham, Middlesex
• The established political parties have reasons to fear Ukip, but they are not those quoted by Goodwin and Ford. Despite winning a 22% share of the national vote at last year's local elections, trumping the 17% achieved at the 2009 Euro election, these impressive results mask the fact that they were achieved on 35% turnouts, which is now customary at mid-term elections. Sections of the electorate have previously flirted briefly with non-mainstream parties such as the National Front, SDP, Greens and BNP, but the historical precedents are not encouraging for Ukip. Moreover, voters expect their elected representatives to be professional, moderate and competent.
Ukip is handicapped by its having no more than three or four spokespersons capable of conducting media interviews and by the constant flow of adverse publicity which suggests political values of intolerance and bigotry. The threat posed to the three main parties by Ukip is psychological, not electoral. Neither the Conservatives nor Labour have yet shown the slightest inclination to engage with the party. Ukip will implode when its philosophy is challenged, its arguments debunked and its leader given enough rope that his fag sets fire to it.
*Philip Duly*
Haslemere, Surrey
• While Goodwin and Ford are right to warn that Ukip could threaten Labour, it is a simplification to accuse the Blair government of not showing "much interest in left-behind voters". Labour established the minimum wage, lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, improved social housing, invested heavily in Sure Start, schools and the NHS and promoted concessionary travel for pensioners. If their record on these issues could be criticised, it was the failure to make enough of these achievements. Doing good by stealth is not a recipe for political success.
*Jeremy Beecham*
Labour, House of Lords Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.
What should change is the acceptance of open borders to the flow of goods, services and money. In Europe that also applies to open borders to the flow of people. All polls show most people in the UK want a reduction in population growth and present levels of immigration. A sensible desire given the incredible official projection that the numbers living in the UK will increase by 10 million over the next 25 years, and that around 60% of this is expected to come from immigration and the children of migrants. The only way to see off the extreme right here and in Europe is for the politically active to provide a programme to protect and rebuild domestic economies to provide a secure future for all, not just the very wealthy 1%.
*Colin Hines*
East Twickenham, Middlesex
• The established political parties have reasons to fear Ukip, but they are not those quoted by Goodwin and Ford. Despite winning a 22% share of the national vote at last year's local elections, trumping the 17% achieved at the 2009 Euro election, these impressive results mask the fact that they were achieved on 35% turnouts, which is now customary at mid-term elections. Sections of the electorate have previously flirted briefly with non-mainstream parties such as the National Front, SDP, Greens and BNP, but the historical precedents are not encouraging for Ukip. Moreover, voters expect their elected representatives to be professional, moderate and competent.
Ukip is handicapped by its having no more than three or four spokespersons capable of conducting media interviews and by the constant flow of adverse publicity which suggests political values of intolerance and bigotry. The threat posed to the three main parties by Ukip is psychological, not electoral. Neither the Conservatives nor Labour have yet shown the slightest inclination to engage with the party. Ukip will implode when its philosophy is challenged, its arguments debunked and its leader given enough rope that his fag sets fire to it.
*Philip Duly*
Haslemere, Surrey
• While Goodwin and Ford are right to warn that Ukip could threaten Labour, it is a simplification to accuse the Blair government of not showing "much interest in left-behind voters". Labour established the minimum wage, lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, improved social housing, invested heavily in Sure Start, schools and the NHS and promoted concessionary travel for pensioners. If their record on these issues could be criticised, it was the failure to make enough of these achievements. Doing good by stealth is not a recipe for political success.
*Jeremy Beecham*
Labour, House of Lords Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.