The Tories never forgave Robert Peel for seeking opposition support in 1846, but the episode provides a lesson for this prime minister
Of all human reflexes, jingoism is the most dangerous. It was evident in the hysteria of Tuesday’s Commons vote on Theresa May’s deal. Neither MPs nor the crowds outside had any alternative to offer, so they just shouted: “How does Brussels dare?” We have been in this mess before: I can just remember Suez. My father, who opposed the intervention and hated Anthony Eden, still became emotional when listening to Land of Hope and Glory at the Proms that summer of 1956. As if bitten by some wartime patriotic bug, he shouted: “How can Nasser dare?” At school we were being fed Nazi war stories almost daily. We were thrilled to be fighting dastardly foreigners again.
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