By hammering this home, Ukip and the Tory Eurosceptics could, at a stroke, pull the rug from under what, for Europhiles such as Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron, has become almost their only argument for Britain staying in. It is their success in keeping this out of the debate that more than anything condemns it to such wearisome sterility. What we heard on Wednesday was like listening to two bores banging on in a pub. Neither really landed any serious blow on the other, because neither was remotely engaging in the reality of what we are up against. It is unsurprising that our national debate has become so trivial and so tedious. It is this which makes the “British public”, pace Lord Ashdown, the only real losers.