Amid the woeful political debate that has prevailed since Rishi Sunak called a General Election last month, and which was indeed evident before that, it was encouraging to hear Lord Michael Heseltine highlight what is plain to many.

What Lord Heseltine, who served in the Cabinet under prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, flagged was the failure of both of the main parties to address the elephant in the room: Brexit.

Lord Heseltine, president of the European Movement UK, declared late last month: "I think this will be the most dishonest General Election of my life.

“Why? Because it’s going to talk about all the problems, but avoid any of the real solutions which depend upon a closer relationship with Europe. You can’t have a discussion about the country’s economy, or its defence, or immigration, without mentioning Brexit.”

This is absolutely the case.

READ MORE: Famous Scottish cinema with long history in Oban closes

All too often, you get the impression that the Conservatives and Labour are at pains to paint the Brexit folly as something detached from the three big policy areas mentioned by Lord Heseltine. It is ridiculous, of course, to suggest Brexit does not have a major bearing on these areas, yet that seems to be just what Labour and the Tories are doing.

And those conducting polls often cite “Brexit” and “the economy” as two separate choices when they ask people what they consider to be the most important issues. This is a somewhat baffling state of affairs, especially given the huge damage that Brexit is causing when it comes to the economy and living standards.

Lord Heseltine also declared: “We have cut ourselves off from our principal market, our most important partners, and that is the underlying crisis that faces this country.

“It’s terrifying to me that while the public opinion is moving and the younger generation is frustrated, the two major parties think they can go through six weeks of campaigning and not have anything to say about it.”

READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Labour, sadly, looks quite frankly petrified on Brexit

This is indeed a frightening thing, to anyone bothered about trying to maximise the country’s economic prosperity and thereby living standards in these toughest of times.

After arch-Brexiter Nigel Farage announced this week that he would stand as a Reform UK candidate in Clacton in the General Election, Lord Heseltine was quick to make his views known again.

Lord Heseltine declared that the return of Mr Farage meant party leaders “cannot avoid the topic of Brexit any longer”.

Flagging "the issues we are all facing due to the failure of Brexit", he added: "The re-emergence of Nigel Farage blows apart the conspiracy of silence. Brexit is back in dramatic fashion. The issues can now no longer be avoided, and must be challenged head on."

Lord Heseltine put it well late last month when he declared: “At the European Movement, our job is to call out this hypocrisy. We’re here to make a nuisance, to upset the apple cart and say the (apparently) unsayable - that we would be better off back in Europe."

It is no surprise that the current Conservative Government would rather not talk about Brexit so much (apart from making the odd populist and utterly ridiculous claim about some positive) given the damage it has done and the inevitable failure of the purported benefits to appear.

Labour, for its part, appears scared of its own shadow when it comes to talking about Brexit. It does not, it seems, wish to risk upsetting the so-called “red wall” voters who propelled Boris Johnson to power in the December 2019 General Election with their Brexit passion.

These voters need to be told the score, in terms of what Brexit has actually done and potential moves to mitigate the damage, but Labour look as uninterested in doing so as the Conservatives.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer might want to take note of a poll published by the European Movement UK this week. However, the way things have been going with Sir Keir, chance would be a fine thing.

READ MORE: Ian McConnell: The sad, sad tale of a Scottish bank

The poll by the pro-European movement showed that six in 10 voters want a proper debate on Europe as part of the General Election campaign.

Asked whether they think the UK's relationship with the European Union is an important topic during the election campaign, 65% of people aged 25 to 34 and 62% of all the under-40s polled said “yes”.

Even in the 65 to 74 age bracket, considerably more than half of poll respondents wanted discussion of the UK’s relationship with the EU back on the table, the European Movement UK noted.

Cecilia Jastrzembska, president of the Young European Movement pro-European youth organisation, said: "The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union has had a devastating impact on opportunities for young people, particularly our withdrawal from the Erasmus+ student exchange scheme. The data is clear - young Brits will not stand by while their futures are on the line.”

Brexit is, of course, affecting everyone. Many of those ordinary voters who have been the greatest champions of Brexit are being hit the hardest by its effects. Some people are waking up to the fact they were hoodwinked but others need to be told and it is hardly responsible for politicians to shy away from doing so just because they are scared to speak the truth on what Brexit has actually done for fear of a fall in their popularity. That is assuming they know the truth. If they do not, that is even more alarming.

It should, of course, be easier for Labour, than the Tories, to highlight the scale of the damage being done by a folly which was delivered by the Conservatives. However, from a Labour perspective, it seems that this is not viewed as the case.

Sir Keir seems more friendly when it comes to talking about our European neighbours than the Tories, but that is not saying much.

Crucially, both he and the Tories have ruled out rejoining the European single market or even the customs union.

And, in reality, it is difficult to put a cigarette paper between the Conservatives and Labour when it comes to Europe.

Both would it seems, given their policy stance, rather make life more difficult for UK exporters and importers with the continued absence of frictionless trade with the European Economic Area, a huge benefit that was lost with Brexit.

And the parties would, apparently, rather continue to exacerbate the UK’s skills and labour shortages crisis, and limit the country’s growth potential, by refusing to rejoin the single market and once again have the great benefit of free movement of people between the UK and EEA.

It is such a shame because the stakes are so high.

Office for Budget Responsibility chairman Richard Hughes said in spring last year of Brexit’s effect: “We think that in the long run it reduces our overall output by around 4% compared with had we remained in the EU.”

Forecasts drawn up by Theresa May’s government in 2018 showed Brexit would, with an average free trade deal with the EU, result in UK gross domestic product in 15 years’ time being 4.9% lower than if the country had stayed in the bloc if there were no change to migration arrangements. Or 6.7% worse on the basis of zero net inflow of workers from EEA countries. The Tories have clamped down dramatically on immigration from the EEA.

Centre for European Reform associate fellow John Springford estimates Brexit had by the second quarter of 2022 reduced UK GDP by 5.5%.

Hopefully, Lord Heseltine and other heavyweight figures will continue to make their voices heard on Europe.

And, eventually, the two main parties’ top brass might even listen.

Sadly, however, the listening part looks like a very unlikely scenario for now.