The House of Commons was delighted with David Cameron’s first major post-Brexit appearance. The Prime Minister delivered a perfectly judged mix of jokes and gravitas on the floor of Parliament.
‘I thought I was having a bad day,’ he joked at Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition, who is in the middle of being defenestrated by a mass coup as members of the Shadow Cabinet resign, leaving huge vacancies. Welcoming a new Labour MP elected in a by-election, he brought the House down with ‘She should keep her mobile on, she might be in shadow cabinet by the end of the day!
But Cameron also had serious things to say. Amongst them, he flatly rejected Europhile dinosaur Ken Clarke’s contempt for the electorate and demands for ignoring the referendum in Parliament. He said firmly to a Eurosceptic MP that the result must be respected.
Up and down Britain you could hear the majority Leave voters, and many Remain voters, breathing a sigh of relief.
Cameron has correctly stated that the new Prime Minister (probably Boris Johnson, perhaps Andrea Leadsom) will have to negotiate the new deal. But he is the man at the crease for the next crucial couple of months.
Cameron is likely to burnish his credentials after a loss, much as he did after losing the vote over Libya, if, as on that occasion, he gives strong effect to the will of the people.
In Brussels, David Cameron will be beloved by Remainers and Leavers alike if he tells Jean-Claude Juncker, the universally hated President of the European Commission, that Britain will leave on our own terms as and when we want – that whatever Juncker may say, the EU cannot force us to decide when we move to Article 50. Leave planned on a two year orderly exit; Cameron should tell Juncker we will stick to what we want.
Cameron needs to be firm. He should announce that the UK will suspend its contributions and/or chuck around vetos and procedural blocks if there is any attempt to muck around with the UK while we technically remain a member.
Cameron’s strength with Brussels after their refusal to give him any kind of a deal will re-endear him with the Tory party and the country. Juncker and Tusk stuffed him in February; his mission, which he should approach with relish, should be to stuff them hard now, because that is the mandate that the British electorate has given him.
