Brexit Derangement Syndrome is a terrifying condition. It can take intelligent people and turn them into the type of activists you see outside Parliament wearing blue berets with yellow stars. Consider the case of Peter Foster who, for many years, wrote sensible reports for this newspaper, and was latterly its Europe Editor. Even then, Foster didn’t disguise his distaste for Brexit: he gave prominence to forecasts suggesting that Britain’s economy would tank, he wanted to stay in the customs union, and he was one of the earliest supporters of the “backstop” – which removed Ireland’s incentive to push the EU to a more open trade-deal. In general, however, he strove to be informative, not declaratory.

Not any more. In What Went Wrong with Brexit, every gloomy report by a Europhile think-tank is quoted as objective truth, and every Eurocrat is treated as a disinterested expert. In his accounts of the past and his recommendations for the future, Foster praises British concessions to the EU as mature and sensible, while condemning any assertiveness as unrealistic. For example, he thinks it obvious that the UK should sign up to whatever regulations the EU might adopt in future, at least as regards food and veterinary standards. To see how odd that notion is, try flipping it around and demanding that the EU accept “dynamic alignment” with the UK, arbitrated by our supreme court.

At no stage does Foster recognise that the EU can be vindictive or inconsistent. At Salzburg in 2018, Theresa May offered to accept Brussels standards unilaterally and even to pay for the privilege; but, conditioned to reject every British proposal, EU leaders said no, thereby missing their best chance to have the kind of tight relationship that Foster wants. This episode goes unmentioned. 

Indeed, this is a book which makes no pretence at balance or nuance. Brexit is presented as an unmitigated calamity with no upsides at all. Foster mentions Covid-19 in passing, but the idea that paying people to stay home for the better part of two years might have a more serious impact on our economy than a change in our trading patterns is not considered.

Polemics have their place: I wrote one myself before the referendum. But I did so as, so to speak, a columnist rather than a news reporter. Foster started at the Telegraph under Charles Moore, who liked to hire correspondents who disagreed with the paper’s line, knowing that this would make them police their own biases.