The prime minister, Theresa May, is experiencing the reality of the old Chinese curse, may you live in interesting times. Her task to bring her fractious party into line over Brexit seems close to impossible. If she secures support for her EU Withdrawal Bill with backing from the Labour party, she is unlikely to head off divisions in the Conservative party over Europe. This was what the referendum was designed to avoid, but it has made matters worse. A split along the lines of what happened over the Corn Laws in the 1840s would be no surprise. When that happened the party was out of power for 30 years, and now it seems to be ignoring the quotation that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
