SIR - Good old Mr Bird (Letters, December 4) continues to demonstrate rare glimpses of the true nature of UKIP. Not for him the sophistry of ratepayer-owned works of art, ‘bah humbug’!

Sell it all, and use the money to make up for what the Government has stolen from the people of Bradford in order to recapitalise the City of London fraudsters, seems to be what he is saying.

Although UKIP does present a benign public face in the shape of the ever-effusive Nigel Farrage, let none be in any doubt that the hardcore of UKIP is a pretty bog-standard collection of disaffected right-wing Tories, for whom the coalition excesses of the last three and a half years are nowhere near excessive enough.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe we should be leaving the EU, but those being mesmerised by the bumblings of Farrage (and Boris Johnson on the Tory team) are seeing neither the real men, nor their real aims.

Christopher Hindle, Osterley Grove, Bradford