Ukip leader Nigel Farage is set to appear at the Circus Tavern in Purlfeet tonight as part of his Say No the EU tour. Here, he lays out why he thinks Britain should leave the EU.

I am returning once again to the Circus Tavern in Purfleet as part of my ‘Say No To The EU Tour’. Last time I was here it was a few weeks before the General Election that would see local man and UKIP MEP Tim Aker miss out on winning this seat by 900 votes.

UKIP is now in a position to take charge of the council come next May with only six gains needed to become the largest party.

So Thurrock clearly has its head screwed on when it comes to supporting UKIP so it should stand to reason that a great many of the men and women here will make the right choice and vote to leave the EU when we finally have the referendum on our membership.

I will take to the stage tonight to tell those who haven’t made their minds up why it is so important, here in Essex, for the UK to leave the EU and take back control of governing our own country.

With around 75% of legislation now emanating from Brussels, written by people who have no idea what life is like for me and you, it is madness to campaign for those decisions to be forced on Britain. Laws on everything from fishing and farming, motoring and employment, trade and energy; regulations on almost every aspect of life you can imagine.

But there is of course also the key issue of immigration. What was once the most taboo subject in British politics has fast become the most pressing issue. It simply makes no sense to have a system where anyone with an EU passport can come unchecked, in a world of ever growing threat from extremists and with scores of people crossing borders fleeing war or simply trying to make a better life in Britain.

The issue of immigration is more pertinent than ever, with concerns that transcend the still vital arguments of overcrowding and unsustainable pressures on jobs, schools, hospitals and housing. There are 6500 people on council house waiting list here in Thurrock.

Many people will wonder how on earth this area will accommodate an influx of 'asylum seekers' from Syria, let alone the tide of migrants that continue to come from poorer countries in Eastern Europe.

The EU debate affects so many people in so many different ways; from the market stall struggling to remain profitable under the weight of EU regulation; to the companies importing and exporting out of the docks here who are subject to trade deals made in Brussels that favour the failing Eurozone over the interests of Britain, the farmer who has to work as hard to comply to ever increasing EU regulation as he has to tend his fields or livestock to turn a profit in an ever challenging market place.

From hauliers to hoteliers, shopkeepers to shipping merchants, and to every man and woman in Essex funding an undemocratic organisation nobody has voted for in decades, nor can hold to account, this EU referendum is the most important constitutional question we will face in a generation.

EU defenders will try to tell you that jobs depend on membership, or that without it, the UK won’t have a voice on the world stage. Well I can’t see that being the case for the other 168 countries who are not subjected to controls from the corporate cartel in Brussels, who govern themselves freely and trade internationally.

Essex is a proud county. It’s a county that is not ashamed to fly the union jack and show patriotic faith in the nation. It’s a county of straight talking and hard working men and women. I now ask Essex to continue to believe in Britain and vote to once again govern ourselves proudly.