THE tide has turned, it seems to me - or so I hope.
This week more than 100 Tory MPs gathered in the Thatcher Room to discuss the future of our relationship with Europe.
With Greece about to default on her massive debts, the EU and the Euro could be plunged into chaos and we in the UK need to be ready with a plan of action.
I was hugely encouraged to see so many of my colleagues step out of the shadows and put their Eurosceptic cards on the table.
The likes of Bill Cash, John Redwood and Bernard Jenkin have fought for years against an increasingly federalist Europe, to no avail.
Now, at last, it seems the tide is turning and a dose of realism is sweeping through our Party as Greece’s plight provides an excellent opportunity to renegotiate our position in Europe.
Ironically, the closer the pro-camp and their army of bureaucrats have tried to push us to complete union, the wider the chasm has become.
Such a system needs control from the centre: one treasury, one currency, one army, one government, one tax, one judiciary and the like.
For that to be successful, its citizens inevitably need to be controlled, by force if necessary.
Imagine a world of ID cards, cameras, extradition, police surveillance and unaccountable politicians.
It all sounds futuristic, but I can assure you a federalist Europe would have to operate this way, and in some cases already does.
I welcome this move by many colleagues to stand up and be counted, but I shall believe this new-found realism when action replaces rhetoric.
There’s been too much of the latter over the years for our constituents to take us seriously on Europe and I believe our integrity has been damaged.
Now, with the EU and its citizens staring down the barrel of a gun, is the time to stand up and reclaim our right to rule ourselves.
The time for talking is over.