Friday 19 July 2013

Recent email correspondence re: UKIP

Hi Terry,

Thank you for taking the time to write me a letter with regards to our conversation.

I would be very interested to know your thoughts on a couple of questions I have.

UKIP have just posted their leaflet through the door, the most attractive thing they talk about is leaving the EU, they make this sound like a positive move due to the fact that will stop more foreign people joining the UK, where do you stand on this?

I noticed you mentioned that Thetford Academy is under incredible pressure which includes a large number of special educational needs children. My son XXXX would have been one of a special needs group had I not found out what caused his behavioural/listening skills problems. Since changing both xxxxxx and xxxxxx diet 6 months ago they are different children for the better, the improvement is massive and I am sure it could help a large number of children. Strangely enough its not just bad food that caused the problems, when xxxx ate an apple and became aggressive I researched further and came across Salicylates and the www.fedup.com.au website.

Please feel free to contact me should you like to discuss any of the points in more detail.

Kind regards, 

XXXXXX


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Hi xxxxxx
Thank-you for your email.
I do not support leaving the EU entirely, I think the benefits to Great Britain, particularly with regards to trade links are too strong for us to leave - think of how many jobs would be lost if trade to European countries were to be interrupted or made more difficult?
I do however support reviewing the UKs welfare system because of Britains membership of the EU. I.e. we need to re-evaluate when people are entitled to certain benefits if they move to this Country. You cannot take out of a system until you have adequately paid into it, in my opinion.
All of this is slightly misleading however - this is a Norfolk County Council by-election, should the UKIP candidate be successful, there will be absolutely nothing that he can do with regards to immigration or the EU. He should be talking about services that Norfolk CC are responsible for, such as education, children's services, roads and public transport, adult social services. etc. Their literature rarely talks about matters directly associated with the actual poll, but they seek the votes from people regardless - this is very misleading. Their leaflet about Romanians and Bulgarians for example is nothing short of scaremongering.
I notice from the UKIP leaflet that I received that it mentions planning maters and protecting our local heritage - again, this is a Breckland Council matter as they are the planning authority.
Regarding your point about special needs children; Yes, we do have a considerable number of special needs children in Thetford - this is not helped by the fact that nearly £1million pounds worth of special needs funding has been taken out of Thetford by Norfolk County Council, including the closure of the Pupil Referral Unit and other services. Advice such as yours, e.g. improving diets etc. is very valuable advice that should be made available to parents to address issues before they develop too far - scrapping early intervention services and advice projects, e.g. Connexions, Norfolk Youth Service and Thetford Education Partnership, will not help the situation. These are services that I believe in and will continue to fight for.
I hope that helps outline my position?
Best wishes
Terry Jermy

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Hi Terry,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

I feel UKIP are out of order for sending that misleading information, so many people will vote for them on the back of their false leaflet!

I am please you are keen to support our children, I found that the NHS system were unable to diagnose Edwards problems and I had to source support from Australia, I would be pleased to help where ever I could should the opportunity ever arise.

We will be voting for you!

Kind regards,

XXXXXXX

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr Jermy

I read with interest your comments regarding our membership of the EU and the new Free School in the town. As a life-long member of the Labour Party I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with your stance on either of these issues. Party policy is very clear, there would be no more Free Schools under a Labour government, there is also no policy on removing/restricting benefits for our European colleges at their time of need. The provision of the welfare state is a fundamental part of the fabric of what the Labour party stands for.

Your comments sound more like those attributed to a tory rather than a socialist and this disappoints me greatly.

D Miller

Anonymous said...

Mr Jermy

Having just read this post concerning your views on EU membership and restrictions on benefits. I then note your further comments regarding UKIP.

To be perfectly frank and honest I believe that following the NCC elections, the labour party benefited from UKIP (as the 2nd largest group) standing aside which allowed labour to assume control.

You as a labour member were obviously content with this arrangement at the time, yet now and purely for self interest you appear to be stealing UKIP's clothes and policies if it means you gain from it personally in the election.

I really find your attitude both insulting and incredibly cynical, if this is what the electors of Thetford West can expect from you, I sincerely hope they see through it and vote accordingly

Shame on you!

TJUK2013 said...

Hello,

You have made two assumptions there - both of which are incorrect.

I was not elected on May 2nd, so I was therefore not part of any discussions with regard to forming an alliance with UKIP and the Lib Dems. It is not something that I personally think that I could have supported, if I had been elected, but I did not know, and still do not know, the full details of the discussions and trust the judgement of the current Labour County Councillors that made that choice.

Secondly, my views on UKIP are very long-standing - they have not changed. I joined the Labour Party because I believe in fairness and equality - there is nothing fair about people taking out of a system before they have paid into one, particularly if they are 'jumping ahead' and denying people services. I spend most of my time however dispelling the myths that UKIP create with regard to what exactly migrants are entitled to, and what they are not. This blatant scaremongering is disgusting, and causes animosity by breeding fear.

TJUK2013 said...

Dear D Miller, thank-you for your message. To be clear, I do not support the Free School policy, in the same way that I do not support the Academies policy either. I welcomed Stephen Twiggs comments recently when he said that there would be no new Free Schools under a Labour Government, but existing ones would not be closed down. Ideally, I'd like to see the provision that the Thetford Free School is providing done so through the County Council / Government - that will not happen, certainly not until a change in national Government, so for the sake of young people locally, we need to welcome the Free School, and be grateful that the people behind it are doing it for the right reasons - I'd ask you to talk to / meet with Nico Dobbin and his colleagues - it will address many of your fears, as it did with my own, and many other local Labour Party members. TJ