UKIP only looks back (From York Press)

UKIP only looks back

9:37am Wednesday 5th December 2012 in Letters By Reader's letter

HUBRIS is such fun. UKIP polls a total of 8,038 votes across three constituencies on a dark November day and Nigel Farage announces they are the third force in British politics – in a nation of 63 million.

He isn’t the first politician to transform a tiny acorn into a mighty oak and he won’t be the last.

I hope that before long the British people see through UKIP’s isolationist posturing and recognise that the UK’s future is not to be found in trying to turn the clock back to some imagined age when there were no pesky foreigners on English soil, when the Continent was two days’ sail from Blighty, and when fields were measured in furlongs and wheat in bushels.

The world has changed. In the 19th century they couldn’t burrow back to the 18th century to avoid the industrial revolution; they had to move forwards, and so do we.

Our climate is changing (it really doesn’t matter who is responsible) and the world’s population keeps growing while our planet’s resources are finite. We can either hide in a corner clinging to our possessions or we can work with our neighbours to adapt and ensure a sustainable future for all.

Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Wheldrake.