Both major parties in the House of Commons have voted to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, thereby starting the negotiations for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. That leaves the question – who speaks for the 48 per cent of the country that did not vote to leave; and who speaks for that part of the 52 per cent majority which would have liked to keep as much as possible of the EU relationship intact?

The surprising answer is two former prime ministers, Tony Blair and Sir John Major. Labour, meanwhile, is a house so divided against itself it may not stand. It has lost touch with its own voters and is fast retreating into irrelevance.