Racist? Read the manifestoand find out all about us

I am deeply saddened an A-level student who states he wishes to pursue a career in journalism has so blatantly failed to check the facts upon which he based his article.

The UK Independence Party has enshrined in its constitution the principle of being a non-racist, non-sectarian political party, and will remove any member found to have discriminatory views '“ and has, indeed, done so in the past.

It further saddens me that of all of the avenues available to Mr Haigh to acquire the actual facts about UKIP he could have used, he has instead stuck to his narrow-minded politically-correct ignorance of the facts regarding UKIP.

If Mr Haigh had taken the trouble to check the official party website or contact his local branch for information, he would have been able to read the party constitution and manifesto to gain a true picture of the party and its policies.

For example, Mr Haigh infers UKIP wants to 'close our borders'. The policy of the UK Independence Party is to adopt a balanced and controlled immigration policy based upon the model used in Australia '“ the issue is space, not race.

UKIP, like all political parties in this country, has a policy on immigration, which is not based on bias or hatred, but on addressing the issues facing this country in a common-sense fashion, and which if not addressed will ultimately affect us all regardless of sex, colour or creed.

I am a West Indian by birth and UKIP has members of many different races. I am sure we would not be involved with, or be a member, of any racist organisation. In the elections for the UKIP national executive council in 2006, I received the second-highest number of votes from party members, out of more than 40 candidates contesting the election, exceeded only by the current party leader. Is that the action of a racist organisation?

I have met many members of the UK Independence Party in the years I have been involved with the organisation, and have never heard or seen anyone acting in a racist manner.

I am the NEC member with responsibility for the youth/young members' section within the party, and while it is true that a lot of our members are senior in age (as with all UK political parties), we have a growing number of young people.