It is perhaps not an infallible guide, but the fact that the “secret summit” on Brexit has upset all the right people suggests that it was at least a good idea. It’s difficult to understand why a session involving politicians from all sides of the Brexit debate, plus experts and businesspeople, should have attracted such ire, but that has been the all-too-predictable outcome.
That the likes of David Lammy, Michael Gove, and the former Brexit negotiator Ollie Robbins should set past and present differences aside and hold constructive talks about such a crucial question, for the good of the British people, is surely only to be welcomed in this age of hyper-partisanship. The wounds from the referendum of 2016 have not yet healed – and it is time that they did.
Some, however, would rather they festered. It was particularly triggering for the populist-nationalist right to hear of the presence of Peter Mandelson as chair of the conference at Ditchley Park, asking the innocuous question: “How can we make Brexit work better with our neighbours in Europe?”
