The ‘secret Brexit summit’ shows the urgency of making the best of a bad job

Editorial: A series of relatively painless and voluntary concessions and operational arrangements would remove the most irritating of the problems

At least Michael Gove has the dignity to try to make it better (AFP/Getty)

It is perhaps not an infallible guide, but the fact that the “secret summit” on Brexit has upset all the right people suggests that it was at least a good idea. It’s difficult to understand why a session involving politicians from all sides of the Brexit debate, plus experts and businesspeople, should have attracted such ire, but that has been the all-too-predictable outcome.

That the likes of David Lammy, Michael Gove, and the former Brexit negotiator Ollie Robbins should set past and present differences aside and hold constructive talks about such a crucial question, for the good of the British people, is surely only to be welcomed in this age of hyper-partisanship. The wounds from the referendum of 2016 have not yet healed – and it is time that they did.

Some, however, would rather they festered. It was particularly triggering for the populist-nationalist right to hear of the presence of Peter Mandelson as chair of the conference at Ditchley Park, asking the innocuous question: “How can we make Brexit work better with our neighbours in Europe?”