IN the report (Echo, Jan 21) about Colin Race's switch to Ukip while a member of Bishop Auckland Town Council, he is reported as asking: "How are my kids meant to get a job when our political class supports open-door mass immigration from 27 other EU member states?"

The North-East does have the highest unemployment in the country, and the latest figures for Bishop Auckland Constituency are 2,900 or seven per cent.

But official statistics also all agree that migrants have steered clear of much of the North-East.

The Bishop Auckland constituency is shown as having only 800 non-UK nationals living here out of the total of 89,500, or one per cent. There are 13,700 non-UK-nationals in County Durham (just 2.7 per cent).

Many large employers in Durham and Teesside say that it is precisely leaving the EU which would be most disastrous for jobs here. While immigration is an issue we cannot ignore, Ukip proposals to leave the EU would have a far more devastating impact on jobs in Bishop Auckland and the North-East, as 5 to 6,000 jobs for the constituency depend directly on exports to the EU.

Janet and Alan Townsend, Low Willington.