Johnson can deliver no-deal Brexit and heal our wounds

After several disheartening years, we now have the opportunity for a fresh start. If the next prime minister is to succeed, he will need our full support, so I urge all Conservatives, whatever their views on Brexit and whatever the outcome of the leadership vote, to give the winning candidate the chance to show how he intends to meet and overcome the challenges facing Britain.

Brexit must, of course, be his first priority. Both candidates have said that they would prefer us to leave with a deal, and I believe that there is a prospect of reaching an agreement which would satisfy a majority of MPs.

Our proposed departure date was not chosen at random – Oct 31 is the last day of the current Commission, and the new administration will not be short of its own challenges. The EU would be delighted to sort Brexit before then, and move on to other

matters. But what if no deal can be done? The Prime Minister would have to explain to the Commons that he has tried to reach a deal which would meet the concerns of Parliament but that, as a result of the EU’s obduracy, he has failed. Parliament would then face a choice of no deal or no Brexit.

Deploying the attributes of leadership and persuasion normally associated with the holder of that office, our next PM should be able to get no-deal through the House. If and when Brexit has been achieved – either with or without a deal – I think the PM will be in a position to achieve something even greater – to unite our country and put its recent, bitter divisions behind us. National unity and consensus are not always the supreme goals of statesmanship. Margaret Thatcher never achieved them, though it was necessary to take tough decisions which, in effect, broke the previous failed consensus.

But I think we are now in a different position. Brexit has been undeniably divisive, but once the deed is done, I think things will begin to look very different. It is one thing to strive to remain in the EU, despite the referendum result, quite another to argue that we should reapply for membership after we have left. I have little doubt that the constituency for the latter view would be very much smaller than that for the former. So the potential for unifying the country is much greater than it might appear.

If the wounds currently afflicting us can heal, it will be easier to achieve a consensus on other challenges the new PM will face – social care, immigration, policing, taxation, housing. And there is one thought that should never leave our minds.

Waiting in the wings is the greatest threat our country has ever faced in peacetime – a Corbyn government. The Conservative Party is the only vehicle which can prevent that. If, for no other reason, it and the new Prime Minister deserve our full support.

If Brexit is achieved – either with or without a deal – the PM will be in a position to unite our country