Paralysis of the government machine means I too must now back a second EU referendum

Brexit is paralysing government and preventing other important areas of policy getting proper attention. It reduces our reputation for quiet effectiveness in delivering positive change for our country.

As Conservative parliamentarians we urgently need to find a way forward for resolving Brexit in a manner that does not ignore the referendum result of 2016, but recognises that in the two years since, our understanding of the likely consequences of Brexit and of the options available for it have grown and that there is no public consensus whatsoever on what course of action should be taken. This is why I believe the time has come for a polite rebellion by pragmatic Conservatives.

Including myself, it is now clear that there is a significant group of Conservative MPs who think that a People’s Vote – a vote on the final form Brexit will take – is absolutely indispensable for the future wellbeing of our country.

The fact that this view is now shared by most of the parliamentary Labour Party and almost all the other opposition parties, demonstrates that the possibilities of a consensus on process is available that can lead to a far less divisive outcome than the one that threatens to engulf us.

My hope is the Prime Minister will come to see the benefit of asking for an approval by the public of the final outcome of her negotiations.

This is all the more needed because of the increasing risk that her Chequers plan will either be rejected by our EU partners or by a sufficiently large element in Parliament.

But if she insists on pressing on, I for one cannot allow short-term party considerations to override the national interest. A No Deal Brexit is a proposal so damaging to our future that it cannot be accepted.

So the only possible response must be to return to the British electorate and ask them what they want.

That, it seems to me, is a good, pragmatic, Conservative position. It presupposes nothing as to the outcome of a referendum.

It responds to the clear evidence of a shift of public mood on the consequences of Brexit. It can and should be couched in honest terms which provide a choice that reflects the options now on offer and are capable of being implemented thereafter. A Brexit with a poor outcome will damage our country and lead to years of further division. Conservative MPs now need the courage to ensure this does not happen.

I would, of course, argue that we need to change our national position. We should choose to return to our union with 27 like-minded European partners, whose values we share from centuries of interconnection and whose futures are intimately bound up with our own.

But whatever the outcome of a People’s Vote, the critical issue is that it is entirely wrong that on matter of such importance, we should now deprive the British people of the right to express a definitive opinion on a matter which is the defining issue of our time.