Look down your nose at Ukip at your peril

'The Tories and left-liberal elites in London look down their noses at uncouth Ukip MEPs and voters.' Photograph: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

Pointing out that Ukip did not win any new Commons seats is a comment on our first-past-the-post electoral system, not a comment on Ukip (Farage is the gift that keeps on giving to the Conservatives, Opinion, 14 October). If the UK had a PR-elected Commons there would be 81 Ukip MPs. When it comes to Europe, however, Ukip is on home ground. Every time voters have gone to the ballot box on Europe this century Ukip has done very well. In May, Tories and Labour lost council seats but the number of Ukip councillors rose. The Tories and left-liberal elites in London look down their noses at uncouth Ukip MEPs and voters. When David Cameron’s Brexit plebiscite takes place, Ukip’s 4.5 million voters and network of MEPs, their staff, councillors and committed activists – none of which existed in 1975 – will be very important.
Dr Denis Macshane
Author of Brexit: How Britain will Leave Europe