Following a few conversations I've had with Labour party members recently, I thought readers of this blog might be interested to see an extract from a letter I sent to a constituent in 2004. My constituent had asked whether I felt UKIP, as a fringe group, were worth bothering with. Here's my reply:

"The wider point about why UKIP are 'worth bothering with', as you put it, is an interesting one. Their policies are indeed characteristic of a fringe group, and until this summer I think they were best handled in the same way as the BNP – we would rebut their specific claims, or the more ludicrous ones anyway, but not spend too much time proactively exposing them. However, the climate has now changed; UKIP were able to buy themselves a great deal of publicity before the most recent European elections, and they are now using this as a platform to spread their campaign of disinformation about the European Union. The fact that UKIP will never form a government in the UK does not make their influence any the less dangerous in this regard. They are in the public eye whether we like it or not, and I now believe it to be crucial that we engage with them.

I understand your views about the possibility that some people perceive debate among political parties as squabbling, and that it may therefore be counter-productive. That is always a risk. But I feel that the issue of Europe is so important, the distortions put about by groups like UKIP so dangerous, and the motivations underlying them so poisonous, that it would be a mistake not to both counter their claims and to expose their agenda."