What is a little surprising is the response to the results of this poll. A few people have reacted in a rather immoderate and ill-tempered fashion.

The poll was hijacked. Anyone who had ever been in a vehicle that had been hijacked would be a little more careful in his use of that ludicrous metaphor.

Those who voted weren't really entitled to vote. If you don't listen to the BBC World Service for a certain number of hours every day you were cheating when you voted. I'm not too sure who invented this rule but it wasn't created until after the result was known.

Those who voted for the winner are petty, narrow, backward-looking and just plain wrong This is undoubtedly true. And people who vote for the wrong things simply shouldn't be allowed to vote. This should be the privilege of those who are better educated, have more understanding, and think rather like me.