K HENDERSON wrote “you’d have thought that the recent success of UKIP would have been welcomed as a breath of fresh air”.

Firstly, UKIP is pretty stale, being a haven for ex-Tories whose views are too extreme even for the present lamentable regime.

I couldn't believe the amount of airtime recently afforded to former minister Neil Hamilton, who lost his parliamentary seat of Tatton to the independent anti-sleaze candidate Martin Bell in 1997.

Secondly, UKIP’s ‘policy’ on manmade climate change, which is basically to stick its head in the sand and ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence, demonstrates that it is clearly unfit for office. Nigel Farage compared UKIP to an earthquake.

This is very apt, as earthquakes are noisy, unpredictable and dangerous, and they leave a mess which takes a long time to clear up.

Andrew Day, Bydemill Gardens, Highworth, Swindon