I do wonder if there is a bigger picture here. The right are making gains across Europe, and the rise of austerity has coincided with the increasing inequality within our societies. I'm not sure I know a soul who believes that our politicians are anything but people in it for themselves, to accommodate big business and maintain the status quo. Thing is, Farage is a variation of the status quo, a sort of sub-species of right-winger and not a challenge to it at all; they want a blanket 33% tax rate, a policy that would plunge a fair number of their supporters into the poverty they fear.

We need to remember our own radical social history, give prominence to those who worked for the common good of all the people on our islands and beyond, and the English need to invoke the spirit of these people and embrace our natural desire to build a fair society. We are not the politicians, oligarchs and aristocracy of that rule without accountability and without compassion.

We are better than that.