UKIP and fracking

I know him to be a man of complete integrity, passionately committed to the cause for which he is campaigning. Although I believe him to be over-pessimistic about its consequences, in a world of spin and focus groups politics desperately needs candidates driven by their beliefs and not simply by a wish for office. On this basis, the greater the range of candidates standing, the better it will be for our democracy.

The sad truth is that the three old parties, Conservative, LibDem and Labour, have in effect merged into a single entity called "the political class." All three believe in squandering £50b on the unwanted and damaging HS2, to remain in the whole failed Euro-project with its porous borders, to enforce an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions under the ludicrous Climate Change Act, to dissipate £13bn a year on overseas aid and to redefine marriage. All of this will be paid for by dismantling our defences at a time of looming international danger. And whatever their candidates might say here, all three parties are committed to fracking for shale gas. In essence, all three old parties are now interchangeable.

UKIP’s common sense view on fracking here is that Third Energy should be allowed to proceed with its trials at Kirby Misperton, with an underground pipeline to Knapton Generating Station. These trials should be closely monitored by an inspection team which would certainly include Mr Tate, before a final evidence-based decision is made on the security of the technology.

Ample time should be allowed before any further development is permitted. But Thirsk and Malton will benefit from Mr. Tate’s intervention, as it will from the presence of a Green Party candidate. As for the three old parties, voters will need a microscope to identify any real difference between their manifestos.

TOBY HORTON

PPC UKIP Thirsk and Malton

Snilesworth, Northallerton