I was delighted that Scotland voted to stay within the UK and that not only is this constitutional issue settled for a generation, but that the Conservative-led government enabled the Scottish referendum to take place. Crucially, we trusted the people to decide their future.
There is of course one other major constitutional issue to be settled, that being the UK’s membership of the European Union. We had a vote on our membership of the EEC in 1975 and if the Conservatives are returned to government next year, we will have a referendum on our EU membership in 2017. By 2017, no one under 60 years of age will have ever had a vote on our relationship with Europe.
Incredibly, the Conservatives are the only major party offering the British people an In/Out referendum vote on our EU membership. If Labour wins the general election, the British people will continue to be denied their say. Crawley residents should ask the Crawley Labour party why do they not trust Crawley people to have a vote on EU membership?
When it comes to the EU, there is much media hype about UKIP and it was disappointing to see two MPs from my own party defect to them. While Nigel Farage may be grinning about that, there will be an even bigger grin on the face of Ed Miliband who benefits the most from UKIP doing well. In Crawley, for anyone who has concerns about the EU and immigration, voting UKIP enables Labour to win with the exact opposite of the policies you wish to see being implemented.
UKIP are a protest party who have never run anything, will never run anything, and who are incapable of running anything. In Crawley, they’ve been a shambles over the last year and have now completely collapsed. Highly questionable leadership, in-fighting, the ousting under false pretences of the previous Chairman, many members leaving, their only Councillor resigning and now their current Chairman resigning, has seen the total demise of UKIP in Crawley. Now more than ever, the only viable alternative to Labour in Crawley is the Conservatives.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Counservative Group
1 October 2014