Last month's argument about Boris Johnson and the burkha annoyed me.
No-one wants to deny free speech; a debate should be had about the role of the burkha (or niqab) in our society and how it fits with British values.
My point, and the reason I criticised Boris, was he could have started that debate without insulting anyone. Not for the first time, the substance got lost because of a throwaway line and people can make their own minds up why he chose the 'letterbox' line.
Furthermore, the former Foreign Secretary could have used his newspaper column to do what he's failed to do since leading the Leave campaign in 2016 - tell us what his Brexit plan is. The Prime Minister - and the Government - have one and I support it. Here's why.
The Chequers Agreement has its critics and there will be many twists and turns to come as Parliament and the country grapples with the big issue of our time but, for me, it represents a fair-minded compromise and that would be the right thing to do whether we'd had (as we did) a close result or not. In that referendum – the largest ever democratic exercise in our history – the British people voted to leave the political structures of the EU - and we will.
The compromise we are putting forward honours the result of that referendum and maintains the constitutional and economic integrity of our United Kingdom. It also sets us on course for a productive relationship with our closest trading partners while freeing us to trade with the rest of the world; and you saw a really positive take on that with the PM in Africa last week.
Yes there are some, in both parties, who want shot of the EU - 'one leap and we're free' - but it's not that simple and is I think ultimately self-defeating. We've been a member, for over forty years, of a club it took us eleven years to negotiate our way into. The idea we can simply walk away in March, like a divorced couple with no children who never speak again, is wrong. Yes we will leave, take back control of our money, laws, and borders and begin a new chapter in our nation's history but we won't turn our backs on our friends across the channel. I don't call that 'hard' or 'soft' Brexit, I call that good sense.
The next six months will be defining. I have no crystal ball but I suspect it will go to the wire and President Macron will ultimately decide whether the EU itself compromises and we have ourselves a deal.
Of course Britain WOULD survive and prosper without one but it would be a big mistake for Europe because of the inevitable impact on the long term partnership with the UK.
As I said in 2016, I don't share the negative mind-set view that our country is doomed and small, no longer relevant. In trade, Britain is punching above our weight but below our potential and, as a result, is ranked mid-table in international exports as a proportion of GDP. Brexit provides an opportunity to change that which can be great for local firms.
We're told Nigel Farage is back on the road with Leave means Leave but, like others, he's still armed with only lazy slogans, not answers to hugely complex areas of policy.
The Chequers Agreement is not perfect but it's the job of Government to do the heavy lifting. That's what is happening here and, in the end, I will support a deal that respects the referendum result and puts practical reality for our economy and our country over theoretical dreamy ideology.
