I have just been listening to Kenneth Clarke interviewed on the Today programme. He talks so much sense, both in terms of his observations and his analysis. Crucially he says that the leaders alone or even the two main parties cannot sort this out between them. At present there is no prospect of an agreement all can unite behind, and yet they need to. The candidates for leader of the Tory party ought to be able to say how they will get us out of Europe, other than simply pulling out without a deal. He doubts that any one of them will be able to do so.
Neither is a General Election the answer; it would just create more problems than it solves and would lead to a divided house and perhaps an even more divided country than we have already. Divided and quarrelsome! The most likely outcome in any event would be a hung parliament with the need then to ‘develop the art of coalition building’. Is that such a different animal, or even perhaps the poor relation, to the consensus building I have been talking about? So why can we not take this option even now. There is precious little time to lose with doubts over whether the EU leaders will grant a further extension after the 31st of October should we need it, unless we can make a really good case for needing it. The adoption of what I have been advocating would represent such a case.
Finally Ken Clarke says we need a grown up solution and a proper, sensible agreement with the EU which is and will remain our biggest market in the world.
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If we were to do something of the sort I have envisaged, this would not only be good for us, or even done just for us, but also for the whole of Europe: rehearsing and hearing as sensible grown up adults the pros and cons of being in the EU and reaching a decision on a basis that would be persuasive for all. It would also return us to what David Cameron might have got from the negotiations with the EU before 2016, the failure of which started all this off. To get to the end therefore we need may need to go back to the beginning!
The Emporer's New Clothes 