A second referendum is a big risk but it's the only solution

You would need a heart of stone not to laugh at the predicament in which Jacob Rees-Mogg and his fellow travellers in the European Research Group now find themselves. Happily I am not so encumbered. Having spent months decrying the withdrawal agreement negotiated with the European Union the Moggists now find themselves forced to think about backing it for fear nanny may otherwise bring something worse to the table.

Well, other than anyone capable of observing the facts of Brexit life, who could have predicted this? Who could have recognised that, from the perspective of the Brexiteers themselves, half a loaf is better than no bread at all?

There is a piercing irony, too, in the manner in which Moggmentum now finds itself in the unhappy position endured by David Cameron during the referendum campaign itself. Having spent years complaining about the ghastliness of the EU – without whose interference, it was strongly implied, life would be both more simply and better arranged – Cameron then had to reverse his ferret and argue that, despite this, leaving was a jolly bad idea because the EU was actually very much better than his previous remarks, and indeed posture, had given you reason to suspect.