Letter to The Sunday Times, published 15th October 2017.

You are absolutely right about the need for Britain to have a Brexit strategy independent of the EU negotiations.

Nothing is more likely to induce the EU to negotiate properly with Britain about trade and money than the prospect of losing unfettered access to what will be,  when Britain leaves the EU, its largest export market.   At the same time it would lose any prospect of our continuing to make an on-going contribution to their budgets.

Unfortunately Mrs May has given scant attention to the “walk-away” strategy if Monday’s latest White Papers (on trade and customs ) are anything to go by. These are largely repetitive confections of wish-lists to which the “stakeholders” are invited to make suggestions,  not  tightly thought out plans which would be the hallmarks of true leadership.

It took looming catastrophe before Chamberlain was replaced by Churchill in 1940. Mrs May needs to go now before another disaster overtakes us.

A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 15th May 1995.

In November 1993, Mr Major told the House of Commons that it would “turn my stomach to talk to IRA terrorists”.

In August 1994, at the time of the IRA ceasefire, the Government said that before it would enter into talks with the IRA/Sinn Fein they must surrender their weapons.

In January and February this requirement was reduced to the IRA merely showing evidence of substantial “decommissioning”.  Now all that is required of the IRA/Sinn Fein is to be prepared to talk about decommissioning, as if that means anything.

Mr Major was recently subjected to personal humiliation at the hands of an IRA/Sinn Fein mob, who later graciously let him visit a museum in the middle of a British city.  Mr Major said that he would have to consider very carefully whether next week’s Government-Sinn Fein talks would go ahead in the light of this outrage.  His pathetic protests having been contemptuously brushed aside, the talks are going ahead anyway.

This is the classic path of discreditable appeasement.  The IRA hold Mr Major and his Government in much the same contempt, as after Munich, Hitler held Chamberlain, whom Mr Major is said to admire.

In Europe, Mr Major’s Government is regarded in similar light: huffing and puffing, but always giving way in the end.

The British public sees these things.  Their attitude to Mr Major now has very little to do with the economy, feelgood factors, taxation, or any “policy” matter.  They simply have no respect for him.

If the Tory grandees can’t bring themselves to dump him now, in 1997 the British electorate will dump them.