David Owen prolongs his tired, old case about UKIP s prospects at a general election at the risk of boring your readers, so may I offer what I hope is a closing comment?

David Owen prolongs his tired, old case about UKIP's prospects at a general election at the risk of boring your readers, so may I offer what I hope is a closing comment?

FPTP (First Past the Post) elections are widely perceived as being unfair and unrepresentative of the electorate as a whole, and that is why serious consideration needs to be given to some form of PR voting in a future parliament.

However, what needs to be acknowledged is that never before in British politics has a minor party, founded only in 1993, beaten a sitting government into third place in a national election, as did UKIP in June 2009 in the European Election. In East Devon alone, more than 10,000 more voters supported UKIP than do in a normal general election, indicating the depth of support for the UKIP argument for a genuine trading relationship with our EU neighbours, but not to be ruled by them as part of a federal state.

The denial by all three major parties of their promised referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has cut deep wounds in people's trust of those parties, and it is now up to those people to register their disdain at the coming election.

If they fail to do that and to shock those parties by supporting UKIP, then this country will be lost in a federal, post-democratic bureaucracy, which our forefathers would be ashamed of.

If David Owen has to stump up �100, as I hope he will, I will be delighted and undertake to pass that amount to his chosen charity.

John Kelly,

Timbers Chase,

Marley Hayes, Hulham Road,

Exmouth.