Isolation in the UK

Thank you A. Bonello (May 17) for pointing out that we "should be thankful" to Nigel Farage for his views on the "realities" of EU membership. Before naively believing his stories, however, given that the source of any information is key to its reliability, it might be wise to examine the UK Independence Party (UKIP) which he represents, as an information source.

According to the UKIP website, "The UK Independence Party was founded in 1993 to seek Britain's withdrawal from the European Union". This does not augur well as far as the presentation of 'facts' regarding the EU is concerned. Their website also states that the four major British political parties "...are not telling... the truth about the EU".

Are we really expected to believe that these parties are all liars, and that only the UKIP tells the truth and knows what is best for the UK with respect to the EU?

The fact that the UKIP has the support of less than one per cent of the British electorate answers our question: it suggests that the vast majority of British citizens do not find the UKIP or its message credible. If this is the case, then why should the UKIP have any credibility with us?

Note that my point has nothing to do with the UKIP being "a small party" - for having fielded 427 candidates in the UK's last general election they can hardly be termed "small" - but with their inherent prejudice and lack of credibility in their own country.

Perhaps the 'truth' is, in fact, that Nigel Farage has got very strongly biased opinions. As some of us believe that people are entitled to their opinions, this is fine. However, interesting to note is that the UKIP claim to be fighting for a referendum on EU membership, so that even they - so fundamentally opposed to membership - believe in the citizen's democratic right to make such decisions. It is truly sad that there are those on this island who do not believe in such rights - regardless of the damage this does to our international reputation and economy - yet stoop to using people like Nigel Farage to spread the 'truth' about the EU among us.

So perhaps we should indeed be thankful to Nigel Farage and his "voice in the wilderness" (of the UK): thankful because his party's lack of credibility and obvious heavy bias rubs off onto those who associate themselves with him in this country - those who will do anything to "dupe" the Maltese into taking a position on the EU not through clarity of mind but through fear of change.