Why the Daily Mail targets me as an ‘enemy of the people’

“I never cease to be amused by the way the left demonise anyone they disagree with,” writes Paul Dacre in the Spectator. These are the words of someone possessing either a fine sense of irony or a complete lack of self-knowledge and in Dacre’s case it looks like the latter.

The editor of the Daily Mail has repeatedly demonstrated his determination to demonise those who dare to take a view different to his. His most outrageous attack was the “Enemies of the people” headline of November 2016, his reaction to the fact that supreme court judges had upheld the right of parliament to have a role in the article 50 process that would trigger the start of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Brexit has become Dacre’s crusade and those not saddled up beside him are seen to be against him, infidels meriting his equivalent to stoning: character assassination by the mercenaries of the Daily Mail. In recent days, I have received the full barrage of bile, having been spotted at the meeting of Smith Square “conspirators” that Dacre’s sleuths “discovered”.

Without putting up a neon announcement over the door, nothing could have been less secret than the meetings that have been taking place regularly between representatives of groups that wish to avoid the hardest of Brexits. But the immediate subject of demonisation is Dominic Grieve, the honourable MP who is determined that parliament should have a genuinely meaningful vote on any eventual Brexit deal. Hence, the screeching front-page headline had him addressing a “secretive meeting” of people “plotting” to “reverse” Brexit.

Quentin Letts, whose “hatchet jobs to order” service is remarkable for its scale of output, if not its insights, was summoned to reach into his usual store of adjectival insults to condemn the former attorney general and current chairman of the intelligence and security committee. But it was Grieve’s appearance and background, not his arguments, which were being savaged.

On Brexit, as so many other things, the Mail has a completely closed mind. This saddens me, as I started my Fleet Street career there, on the City pages, under the expert tutelage of Patrick Sergeant, who insisted on thorough analysis of issues and fair interviewing of individuals.

However, if demonisation is the intent, there is no point in giving targets the chance to answer allegations. As a Conservative member of the House of “crooks, cronies, dodgy-donors and washed-up members of the political class” in Mail-speak, who has voted against the government on the EU withdrawal bill, I am already an enemy of the people. Having been spotted attending the conspirators’ meeting put me in the line of fire.

I stand accused of having moved from being Eurosceptic to a Remainer without having been given the opportunity to explain that there is no inconsistency in this position. The EU is a flawed organisation much in need of reform but I firmly believe that this country is much better off inside it than out, not merely from an economic viewpoint but because of cultural, social and, crucially, security reasons.

A majority of people in parliament shared that view before the referendum of 2016. Nevertheless, parliament respected the will of the people and embarked on implementing Brexit. The dangers and costs involved become daily more apparent. Paul Drechsler, the outgoing chairman of the CBI, has nothing to gain personally from his warning that, without a customs union, the UK will see swaths of its car industry wiped out.

We were told that Brexit would lead to a nirvana with loads of cash flowing back into UK coffers. It is clear that this is not the case. If the facts change, sensible people change their view but in Dacreland, blind prejudice rules; ears are covered and all appeals for intelligent debate are drowned out by cries of “destroy the enemies of Brexit”.

When such cries are coupled with threats from the whips, it is hard to overestimate the pressure that has been put upon the would-be rebel Tory MPs to step meekly into line. But last week 20 of them were prepared to back Grieve in his determination that the government should not be able to finalise the terms on which the UK leaves the EU without a meaningful vote in parliament.

Promises made by the prime minister on Tuesday secured a temporary truce but the amendment tabled by the government has fallen far short of what the rebels had expected. It simply is not possible to appease the ardent Brexiters of the European Reform Group and their champions in the rightwing press and those who want to avoid a hard Brexit.

The coming week will crystallise the issue. The Lords, conscious that the final decision on legislation must rest with the Commons, might not have been inclined to try to ping-pong the bill at this late stage. We must, though, consider the new amendment on the meaningful vote and we will almost certainly vote that down in favour of a version of the Grieve amendment that will be tabled on Monday.

Then it will be back to the Commons. The score of would-be Tory rebels will be warned that a government defeat would put the prime minister at risk of a leadership challenge and the country at risk of a Corbyn government. Yet neither is the necessary or even likely outcome. The European Reform Group would not triumph in a leadership election and Tory rebels would not support the vote of no-confidence that could precipitate a general election.

What Tory rebels would certainly precipitate is a campaign of vilification by the Daily Mail, but, as Paul Dacre throws his last sticks and stones before retiring, they are losing their power to inflict real pain.