I believe that the European Union faces a Democratic Crisis - and I shall try to justify that phrase.

My right hon. Friendthe Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) mentioned the Democratic Crisis, but that crisis is all the more surprising given the pace of change in European affairs.

It gives a generalised sense of incompetence and of being put upon by the state, and it induces a profoundly Serious Democratic Crisis.

It is also dangerous to make that point as we are facing not just an economic crisis but a Democratic Crisis.

It is faced not only with a democratic deficit, but with a Democratic Crisis, and there is not only a eurozone crisis, but a European crisis.

I believe that we live in a time of Democratic Crisis.