At David Cameron’s final Prime Minister’s Questions, a Labour MP asked him how his plan to get the Tories to ‘stop banging on about Europe’ was going. The chamber erupted in laughter and Cameron gave a rather sheepish response. Afterwards, one of those who had prepared Cameron for PMQs wondered whether he should have given a more robust answer. Surely, he argued, the party would stop banging on about Europe now that the referendum had settled the question.
How naive that seems in retrospect. It is now becoming clear that the referendum only succeeded in ushering in the most bitter battle in the Tories’ 40-year civil war over Europe. Even a few months ago there was still optimism that once Brexit day arrived, the Tories could pick a new leader free of EU baggage and reunite. Theresa May’s deal has crushed that hope.
The Prime Minister is backing a deal that locks her party in conflict and agony by guaranteeing that two of its most cherished principles — sovereignty and the union — will be in constant friction with each other.
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