Mote and beam

So the UKIP roadshow hit town today – Brussels to be precise – led by Robert Kilroy-Silk, the ex-politician turned chat-show host turned MEP. In his wake trailed Paul Sykes, the millionaire businessman who funded UKIP's Euro election campaign to the tune of £1.1m and contributed hugely to the success of the party.

Basking in the reflected glory, Sykes told journalists in a conference in the European parliament building that one problem which UKIP hoped to rectify by its presence in the parliament was to inform the British people about what was going on. "Over 80 percent of British people know next to zero about this thing that produces 60 percent of the laws that govern their lives," he said.

Kilroy-Silk, on the other hand, told journalists that he had "…great respect for the European Parliament. It is a democratic institution...". On that basis, it looks as if UKIP is going to have to have its work cut out informing its own MEPs about the realities of the European Union, before it can even start telling the British people what is going on.

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