The reaction to the success of a range of anti-EU parties from France to Greece, and most particularly to UKIP's rise, has revealed some disturbing fault lines among the political elite in relation to its ambivalent attitude to democracy.

Take for example the way many have assessed that the UKIP success is a shortlived protest vote. This insultingly implies that the electorate did not believe anything much when they placed their ‘X' on their ballot paper, merely indulging in a sulky, adolescent gesture.