Cllr James McMurray, of Willow Street, Teignmouth, writes: In a recent article in your paper, I was described as a non-aligned member of Teignbridge Council. This has caused a great deal of confusion as many of your readers are aware that I am a member of Ukip and I have had a number of enquiries with regards to my political allegiance.

So let me make this clear. I am a member of Ukip. I am actively involved in campaigning for Ukip, I support local Ukip events, I vote in accordance with Ukip policies and I was even in the conference hall at Doncaster a few weeks ago when Mark Reckless announced he was 'leaving the Conservative Party and joining Ukip'.

The only reason why I am not listed as Ukip is a bureaucratic nonsense. I could have joined the independent group. I didn't as, as far as I am aware, no member of the independent group is a member of a political party.

This is unlike Torbay, where my Ukip colleague, Cllr Julien Parrott, sits in a cross-party grouping called the 'non-coalition' group which comprises of both independents and members of other parties.

In a recent announcement, the Independents at Teignbridge now appear to be both simultaneously shadowing and propping up the minority Tory administration, thereby opposing and supporting it at the same time? I do hope they are doing this for the benefit of the residents of Teignbridge and not for their own electoral advantage.

Can I assure your readers that I will be scrutinising the budget and other council decisions very carefully in the coming months.

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