In Europe, we can’t help laughing at David Cameron’s return – but we welcome it too | Helene von Bismarck

The surprise resurrection of the man who gave us Brexit could be good news for a political scene in need of compromise

It is quite incredible really. David Cameron is back. The former prime minister who gambled with the future of his country by calling the Brexit referendum because he wanted to resolve a dispute within his own party is now entrusted with representing British interests on the world stage.

As a European, it is impossible not to laugh: I did, for several minutes, when news broke of his resurrection. But in spite of the staggering irony of it all, this could actually be good news from the perspective of the UK's allies in Europe and beyond. Politics is the art of the possible, and every appointment should be weighed against its alternatives. Bearing in mind some of the candidates that Rishi Sunak could have chosen to replace James Cleverly at the Foreign Office, this appointment is good news.

Helene von Bismarck is a Hamburg-based historian specialising in UK-German relations