I’D like to thank Labour’s Pete Lowe for his kind words and congratulations on my selection as the UKIP prospective parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge for the forthcoming general election, and must say how much I’m looking forward to the coming campaign.

However, it strikes me that his further comments display that he’s not looking at the bigger picture, and is, with respect, increasingly sounding like a stuck record, with his constant mantra about being the only “local” candidate.

Yes both Margot James and I were, like the previous Labour MP Lynda Waltho, born elsewhere, but my elected position as a Member of the European Parliament for a region which includes the Stourbridge constituency, places me in an ideal position to, not just seek to represent my constituents at Westminster, but also work on a far closer basis, alongside the hardworking UKIP team of local councillors already sitting on Dudley MBC.

During my eighteen years UKIP membership, I’ve learnt to never take the public for granted. My political experience tells me that the good people of Stourbridge will select their new MP on the criteria of personal appeal, ability and policies. These are the qualities that people rely on when electing their representative, at any level.

My own campaign will not be built on sentiment, but upon UKIP’s sound policies of national renewal, self belief and fairness, which, judging by our incredible result in May’s local and European elections, already appeal to many.

Furthermore, I won’t be relying on the usual sound bites and cliches that the other parties wheel out at every election. The public are tired of this, and don’t deserve to be treated with such contempt and dis - regard.

I”m already working alongside my two fellow UKIP West Midlands MEP’s, in standing up for our country and showing that the best way out of the current, tired political situation is through UKIP’s core policy of withdrawal from the EU  Not since the birth of Kier Hardie’s Labour movement at the end of the 19th century have the British public been more ready for a dramatic change in political direction.

Should I be honoured to represent Stourbridge as the next Member of Parliament, then I will immediately resign as a Member of the European Parliament, to concentrate on my new role at Westminster.

James Carver MEP Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands and prospective parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge UK Independence Party