As a supporter of One Nation Labour I have to say that I personally welcome the arrival of UKIP into Merton Council and hope they will continue to support the wonderful work of Stephen Alambritis, a lovely guy whose regeneration of Mitcham and Collier’s Wood is nothing short of inspirational.

When I think about what Merton was like 10 years ago and what it is today I am very proud of what Labour has achieved.

UKIP is welcome because councillors Suzanne Evans, Richard Hilton and Rod Scott made a major contribution to the success of that project and they deserve recognition.
And they made their case very intelligently (Letters, June 20).

I do not support the UKIP proposal for Britain to withdraw completely from the European Union, which still represents slightly less now than 30 per cent of our trade, but does safeguard the jobs of many thousands of British people, however as a democrat I recognise that a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU is a moral necessity.

If that is all UKIP ever achieves then it is done a good job.

The regeneration of Merton has been a tremendous success, but we should not lose sight of the many social tragedies still continuing. In particular in Mitcham, but also elsewhere.

Without wishing to be alarmist, there are still many struggling families who cannot even afford to turn their heating on in winter and mothers who starve in order to provide food for their children.

The absolute refusal of Cameron and Clegg to take any action to protect families from the gigantic utility, food and fuel bills is an absolute obscenity, and given that it is a policy that is opposed now by both Labour and UKIP perhaps there is hope for the future.

It does not have to be hell, but it potentially could be if anybody is insane enough to vote for Cameron and Clegg in the May council elections.

Michael Barltrop
by email