IT is common to hear Labour politicians declare that UKIP is a Party of the Right or Far Right and only former Tories would ever vote for them.

Obviously this is wrong and Labour ought to learn this before the General Election which is now only weeks away.

With another senior Labour figure, Harriet Yeo, defecting to UKIP, isn’t it about time that Labour stopped miss-describing people they disagree with and started to deal with the issues that so many Labour-to-UKIP defectors are concerned about.

Immigration, an EU referendum and welfare are all areas that Ed Miliband’s Labour have failed to set a strong agenda. David Cameron’s Conservatives have made huge progress in controlling non-EU immigration, will deliver an in/out EU referendum and is getting Labour’s reckless welfare spending under control.

These key issues are neither Left nor Right but are concerns Bolton West residents raise with me all the time. With another senior Labour figure and TSSA Trade Unionist defecting to UKIP and Bolton West’s UKIP candidate being a former Labour voter and current Trade Unionist, isn’t it about time Labour stopped type casting and started to listen.

Chris Green

Prospective Conservative Candidate Bolton West