I REMEMBER well when Boris Johnson was the Daily Telegraph’s man in Brussels. He was an enviably brilliant writer, engaging company – and someone who never let too many facts stand in the way of a brilliant story. 

As a politician he has changed little, causing himself major problems by rehashing the old argument about Brexit saving £350 million a week. 

He has been forced to pull back, but the point he was seeking to make remains sound. Brexit is happening and we need to look more positively at what it could deliver. 

I remain sceptical that it will prove good for the UK economy, but it is now the only show in town. Regardless of how we view the referendum result, we all have to make a success of a departure from the EU that is now inevitable. If we focus on the potential disaster it could be that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

While much of the Boris Johnson article was wishful thinking for a future unlikely to arrive, he was at least trying to present a positive picture. 

It would be good if someone would do the same for agriculture, and there is no person better equipped to do that job than another former journalist turned politician – the Defra secretary, Michael Gove. 

He could paint a picture of a future for farming freed from the red tape that has dragged the industry down for years. He could remind people that UK agriculture was once the envy of the world, and the source of many of the scientific and technical advances that are the norm today. 

He could also recall the fact that it was British farmers and British livestock breeds that helped drive agriculture in many of the countries with which the UK now needs to forge trade deals.

If polls last year were accurate – and based on recent elections that is a big if – the majority of farmers voted for Brexit. 

Whether they would do so again now is open to question, because of the uncertainty surrounding trade, support and our future relationship with the EU-27. 

Those that did so wanted to escape the dead hand on their businesses of the European Commission. Gove could hint at giving them what they want. He could set out a vision of a UK farming industry with clear blue water between it and what is happening in Europe. 

He could base this on an industry that embraces science and technology.

It did this for decades before this became lost through EU membership and a political focus on those in urban areas who believe they understand the countryside better than farmers.

If he wanted to be radical – and Gove is certainly that – he could highlight the Jonathan Swift claim from the 1600s. 

This was about the person making two blades of grass grow where one grew before being more deserving of the praise of mankind than politicians. This is still relevant, even if it has been squeezed out of existence by today’s green-vote-chasing politicians. 

What we need is a commitment to a productive agriculture, embracing science and technology to deliver quality food with real provenance, while protecting the environment. 

Gove could even point out that farmers are more in tune with the environment, because they have to be to run their businesses, than all the green armchair warriors in urban areas and indeed at Westminster. 

However that might be a step too far for someone who represents one of the most urban and middle-class constituencies in the UK.

These suggestions are made with a degree of tongue-in-cheek, but the point is still valid that we need to have a vision for the future of farming after Brexit. 

If we see it solely in terms of lost support and lost export markets in the EU 27 then that is exactly what will happen. 

We need to be radical, because Brexit by definition is a radical change from the comfort zone we have been in for 44 years. 

Only by having strong ideas and opinions to chase, is there any prospect of avoiding an outcome for farming decided by officials happy to keep the majority happy while ignoring farmer opinion. 

That is the danger of lacking vision, and for all his many sins, Boris Johnson at least demonstrated the power of positive thinking.