The Spectator's notes | 5 May 2016

The comparison between the referendum questions — that asked in 1975 and the one which we shall be asked on 23 June — is interesting. In 1975, the question was ‘Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain part of the European Community (Common Market)?’ (Answer: Yes/No). Today, the question will be ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of European Union or leave the European Union?’ (Answer: Remain/Leave). The modern question is the fairer, and it also brings out how things have changed. In 1975, it seemed almost obvious that the answer was ‘yes’: even many who did not like EEC entry could see it was strange to leave only a couple of years after joining. The whole issue, like the question, expected the answer ‘yes’. Today, this is much less true. There really is a possibility of leaving and so the question explicitly entertains that possibility. A choice exists. It is this explosive fact which the Remain side seeks to deny.

Tuesday’s memorial service for Geoffrey Howe at St Margaret’s, Westminster, had a more fervent feel than is usual on such occasions. Partly this was because the gentle and courteous Geoffrey was held in much greater affection than most politicians. But partly, too, because this was a wake for a generation of Europhiles now passing, unreplaced. When John Major read from ‘Desiderata’, ‘Avoid loud and aggressive persons’, one could guess whom he had in mind. When Michael Heseltine preached his punchy eulogy, that target was not veiled at all. I feel about Howe’s Europeanism rather as I feel about the men who opposed the Great Reform Bill or the repeal of the Corn Laws — a romantic admiration for those who honourably failed to see the way the world was going.