This is Iain Martin’s weekly newsletter, exclusively for Reaction subscribers. 

A Remainer cabal met at Ditchley Park a week or so ago to plot the betrayal of Brexit and step by step return Britain to the European Union. This was the secret summit reported in the Observer. The paper had been leaked information about the event. In Monday’s Daily Mail it made the splash, with commentary from Stephen Glover inside assessing the nefarious goings on. The dastardly enemies of Brexit had met at Ditchley for two days, gorging on fine food and wine while working out a surreptitious route back to the EU. Nigel Farage when he heard was even more furious than usual. Lord Frost, who negotiated the Brexit deal for Boris Johnson, professed himself appalled by the covert attempt to engineer a sell out to Brussels.

But hold on, the picture painted in these reports bore no relation to reality. How do I know? I was there at the Ditchley gathering. It was a praiseworthy event aimed at making Brexit work, improving the current settlement and fostering better relations with the EU. What on earth is wrong with that?