David Cameron was right about Europe. He judged the issue correctly in relation both to the British people’s demands and the interests of his Conservative Party. History will judge that he was correct.

Sadly for him, however, history will reach that conclusion about the David Cameron of 2006, not the man of the same name we met in 2010 and after.

It is almost 13 years since Cameron warned Conservatives against “banging on” about Europe. Voters didn’t want to hear about the EU, sovereignty and integration, he said. They cared about the NHS, their kids’ schools, jobs and wages. He was right. The Ipsos Mori Issues Index, an invaluable record of public priorities, shows that when he gave that speech to the Tory conference in