Clueless Boris is handing victory to the Remain camp

Who would have thought that David Cameron’s greatest ally in bidding to keep Britain in the EU would be Boris Johnson? Four times now, following Johnson’s original bumbling suggestion that we could safely achieve “Brexit” by negotiating a Canada-style trade deal, Cameron has gleefully shown how ludicrously impractical this would be – as it would take far too long and not even give us full access to the single market anyway.

But Johnson’s empty-headed amateurishness only typifies the fatal failure of any of his allies in the “Leave” campaign to agree on a plausible, properly worked-out exit plan. One after another they come up with their own equally half-baked suggestions, which only demonstrate how none of them have done their homework. This is giving Cameron’s “Project Fear” an open goal, by failing to show how we could practically leave the EU while continuing to enjoy full access to the single market.

The only group that has done so, the Leave Alliance – launched last week with support from the Bruges Group, the Campaign for an Independent Britain and others – is too small to bid for the lead role in the campaign (although I am told on good authority that its expert and exhaustive analysis of all the options has been found very useful by civil servants).

We can only wonder whether, when Cameron wins the day, he will be able to show “magnanimity in victory” by rewarding his favourite ally Mr Johnson with a plum job in his new Cabinet.