Amid the woeful political debate that has prevailed since Rishi Sunak called a General Election last month, and which was indeed evident before that, it was encouraging to hear Lord Michael Heseltine highlight what is plain to many. What Lord Heseltine, who served in the Cabinet under prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, flagged was the failure of both of the main parties to address the elephant in the room: Brexit . Lord Heseltine, president of the European Movement UK, declared late last month: "I think this will be the most dishonest General Election of my life.
“Why? Because it’s going to talk about all the problems, but avoid any of the real solutions which depend upon a closer relationship with Europe. You can’t have a discussion about the country’s economy , or its defence, or immigration, without mentioning Brexit.” This is absolutely the case.
READ MORE: Famous Scottish cinema with long history in Oban closes All too often, you get the impression that the Conservatives and Labour are at pains to paint the Brexit folly as something detached from the three big policy areas mentioned by Lord Heseltine. It is ridiculous, of course, to suggest Brexit does not have a major bearing on these areas, yet that seems to be just what Labour and the Tories are doing. And those conducting polls often cite “Brexit” and “the economy” as two separate choices when they ask people what they consider to be the most important issues.
This is a somewhat baffl.