Only when the blinkers of Eurosceptic ideology are removed does the full scale of the task of repairing EU relations become clear
Rishi Sunak didn’t choose an early July election so that defeat might spare him the hassle of hosting tomorrow’s summit of the European Political Community (EPC), but it is a duty he was glad to forgo.
Protocols of continental fellowship never came naturally to the Conservative leader and his party would have despised him for faking them. By contrast, Keir Starmer is grateful for the gathering in Blenheim as a chance to show how Britain under a Labour government is released from Brexit neurosis.
Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist