Say what you will about old Joe Stalin, he knew that that the spontaneous stormy applause had to come after the great speech/heroic feat/record-breaking harvests.

Not all of Britain’s Tories are quite so savvy.

The BBC reports:

While Downing Street insists they “genuinely don’t know” if the prime minister will be able to get a deal at today’s vital summit, a group of Conservatives, under the auspices of Conservatives for Reform in Europe have already circulated a letter applauding his achievement. Sixty activists from the group, which is led by the senior MP Nick Herbert, have signed a letter praising Cameron – “for the first time since 1975 a British Prime Minister has returned from a summit with more powers than when they arrived”.
That’s despite the fact the group claims officially they will support Mr Cameron on condition that the renegotiation is successful.
The letter says “we fully support the deal the PM has negotiated which helps the UK secure a unique status in a reformed Europe” and suggests that the group has made its decision to back him already before the deal is done.

Negotiations over the deal are dragging on (and on) in Brussels as I write, sound and fury about nothing, as someone almost once wrote.

Kabuki? Partly, but something more than that too, which says a lot about how rigid the EU really is. Cameron has asked for an agreement to agree a few (very minor) concessions, and yet….drama.

There’s a message there.