With less than 200 days to go before next year's General Election, the UK's future in the European Union will move inexorably up the political agenda.

Nigel Farage, cheered on mainly by the right-wing press, the discontented, the disillusioned and some on the Left who have consistently opposed EU membership, will lead the charge.

Ukip is now a force in the land. David Cameron appears to be dancing to the Farage tune in spite of Kenneth Clarke imploring him to ignore the "daft" ambitions of colleagues whose main interest is just getting out of Europe. Mr Clarke, who has long worried about the Eurosceptic influence on the Tory party, would prefer colleagues to join Ukip rather than the Conservatives try to outbid them on ignorance and bigotry; fighting talk indeed.

Pat McFadden, Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East and Glasgow born and bred, has been appointed to Labour's front bench to make "a hard-headed, patriotic case for Britain" to stay in the EU. The SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens want to stay too so the political battle lines on Europe are more or less drawn.

The problem is that much of Ukip's popularity has little to do with Europe and much more to do with an appeal to an electorate fed-up with the mainstream parties. However, unless they are brought to book on their Europe policy their appeal will gain traction. They will continue to break the mould unless the other parties take them on.

But should it be left only to political parties to make the political weather? During the Scottish referendum campaign the debate was argued fiercely on both sides and the electorate responded accordingly, voting in record numbers.

Everyone who participated in the debate should be applauded but too many chose to say nothing for too long, either because they were frightened of the consequences of being on the losing side, or of losing business. Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together campaign, rarely left home without hearing a plea for a No vote but many of these voices ran a mile rather than be heard on a public platform. As the stakes rise in the run-up to the General Election, there needs to be a well-crafted, disciplined strategy to beat the self-appointed anti-establishment politicians. Tactical manoeuvres will not do the trick.

Mr Farage and his ilk need to spell out the economic consequences of withdrawing from the EU. Assertions are not good enough. When Euromyths appear about rules banning mince pies, curved bananas and mushy peas they should be rebutted. Politicians can do some of it but the arguments should not be left to them.

Academics, worried about attracting EU students; fishermen, concerned about access to EU waters; and exporters, large and small dependent on access to EU markets all need to raise their voices. Voters should make their decisions based on facts and not distorted headlines or prejudice.

Defending membership of the EU should not equate to a defence of the status quo. Throughout Europe, including the UK, voters have protested at the priorities of the European project. The most recent polls show the British electorate do not want to leave the EU but they do want the EU reformed.

What they mean exactly is not so clear. This week's YouGov poll shows that people would vote to leave by 42 per cent to 36 per cent if a referendum was held on Britain's relationship with the EU. So the politicians have been warned. They will ignore the electorate at their peril.

In most polls, British membership lies fifth or sixth behind the economy and jobs, welfare, immigration, debt and the NHS but Mr Farage and his colleagues cleverly conflate the issues. Data has consistently shown that migrants coming to the UK from the EU make net contributions of millions to public funds yet such facts are lost as housing waiting lists grow and employers and rapacious agencies use cheap, black market labour.

Ukip should not be allowed to distort the forthcoming election debate. Anyone with an interest in stopping them should find their voice sooner rather than later.