Being right that Brexit was a bad idea is no substitute for knowing what to do next. Our chance of salvaging something from the mess it created is being undermined by those selling false hope – either that Brexit can work, or that it can be easily undone. For the 16,000 businesses that have now given up trading with Europe because of paperwork, prospects remain bleak unless the government stops offering a sticking plaster and starts major surgery on our future with Europe.

Forgive pro-Europeans for thinking the momentum is now with us. Labour has been slow to say what it wants from the EU reset, and slower still to acknowledge the inevitable tradeoffs required. Until the summer, ministers promised to “make Brexit work” and endlessly repeated “red lines”. Yet in recent weeks, a major study has found that leaving the EU cost the UK 6-8% of GDP per capita; now the chancellor calls the damage of Brexit “severe and long lasting”; the prime minister condemns the “wild promises” of the Leave campaign. Belatedly, a window of opportunity to change course may be opening.

History shows that simply saying we want something from Europe doesn’t make it happen. The UK can be its own worst enemy – acting as if the challenge is in us deciding our objectives and the easy part is Europe agreeing. For the 27 other nations that are also part of this relationship, Britain’s confidence about who sets the agenda – from supporters and opponents of Brexit alike – is baffling.

Anyone pro-European should resist talk of rejoining – not because Brexit was a good idea, but because to rejoin is, right now, an impossibility. Having dealt with our........

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