Nice one Obama

I said recently the British public might not take kindly being told how to run their country by the leader of a country not exactly possessing an unblemished record in foreign or domestic affairs.

Last Friday it happened. The U.S. president reminded us how our position in the world will be significantly diminished should we cut ourselves off from Europe. And while we may fly into a rage at his presumption (as BoJo did, idiotically), the uncomfortable truth is he was right.

I can't remember anything like this happening before. I was 24 when we last held a referendum on the "Common Market" as it was called then, and I don't recall any high profile interventions coming from our friends, either inside or outside Europe's domains. Then, as now, the "No" campaign was headed up by bastions of the right, Enoch Powell among them, the only notable exception being Tony Benn. Whether he would be part of the "Leave" group now will never be known, though his son Hilary is one of the more articulate campaigners to remain.

So thank you Mr Obama. You have given us a timely reality check, and we'd better damn well listen if we don't want to screw ourselves completely.