Paul Nuttall understands and appreciates the working class people of Stoke-on-Trent
Jill Seymour MEP
| European Parliament
UKIP’s Staffordshire MEP Jill Seymour, who is also the party’s transport spokesman writes on the eve of polling day in Stoke-on-Trent Central, having been campaigning in the seat for the past two weeks.
Our message to the Stoke Central electorate is clear – we will not take the people for granted, as the Labour party has done now for too many years.
Uncontrolled immigration has put huge pressure on the city’s housing, waiting times at hospitals are too long, and many parents are struggling to get the right school places for their children.
These are the kind of issues which are important to the working class people of Stoke on Trent – not party political grandstanding in Westminster. And Paul Nuttall is a man who appreciates and understands them.
There is no doubting the fact that this has been one of the nastiest by-election campaigns ever, with disgracefully underhand personal attacks on candidates. No wonder people are put off by politics, when they see this kind of behaviour.
Labour wants to trash our country, and sneer at our flag. In Stoke on Trent, it seems to me that the people have had enough.
The success of the Liberal Democrats in traditionally Labour-dominated Asian communities across the city tells its own story – people feel that Jeremy Corbyn’s party is frankly unelectable right now.
Our policies are connecting with local voters. UKIP is fighting for the NHS to remain free at the point of delivery and properly resourced. We want to cut foreign aid and redirect the money.
We also want to scrap the HS2 vanity project – it’s a rail line with a budget spiralling out of control, and it will tear the heart out of many historic Staffordshire communities.
I’ve been working out of Paul’s constituency office in Stoke on Trent for the best part of two weeks now, and the response we are getting on the doorstep – in spite of the vicious mud-slinging from our opponents – has been excellent.
People have been saying to us, thank goodness they have finally found someone they can vote for. They just feel they have been neglected, and people have forgotten them. There are some major issues in Stoke, and they want to feel that someone is listening to them.
But above all, people are telling us on the doorsteps that they simply want to be treated with dignity and respect.
David Davis has said he expects uncontrolled immigration from the EU to continue after Brexit. That's not what 17.4 million people voted for in last June's EU Referendum.
It reminds us that the Tories can't be trusted to control our borders or immigration – and why UKIP is needed now, more than ever, to hold the Government to account.
Jill Seymour is a UKIP MEP for the West Midlands
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