The recent news that the Daily Mail has bought the i newspaper for £49.6m has caused alarm and dismay to many. Is this the latest example of the extreme right tightening their grip on Britain’s print media, 80% of which they already own? It was, after all, the Mail’s long running, vengeful and ferocious campaign against the EU, under Paul Dacre’s editorship, that set the scene for Brexit.

It may be that Dacre finally overstepped the mark with his “enemies of the people” attack on our top judges, or it may be that his particular brand of burning anger was no longer necessary once the worst of his work was successfully done; at any rate many hoped that his replacement by the more pragmatic Geordie Greig would signal a change of heart at Britain’s most popular daily, and a less toxic approach.

Support for this view comes from a leading article in the British Medical Journal, and raises the interesting possibility that the Mail might one day be in the vanguard of a drive to reverse the worst calamity it ever backed: Brexit. The argument is that if the paper has seen the light and abandoned its long term support of the anti-vaxx lobby, anything is possible.

Last month, under Geordie Greig’s direction, the newspaper launched a campaign – praised by the health secretary Matt Hancock – to promote the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and “reassure parents that vaccines, particularly MMR, are safe and vital.” Measles, which can be a killer, has returned to Britain following false claims by rogue doctor Andrew Wakefield.

Wakefield was struck off the medical register in 2010 for dishonesty and irresponsibility, having fraudulently claimed a link between the vaccine and autism. Many parents were frightened into not giving their children its protection.

“Knowing what we know now, the Wakefield study should never have been given such credence – and that is a matter of profound regret” said the Mail.

Wakefield himself was unabashed, and being possessed of a charming nature he has retained many followers and admirers, including, it is said, Donald Trump. For Andrew Wakefield read Boris Johnson, for the MMR vaccine read the protections that the EU affords us, and for frightened parents read voters fearing an invasion by immigrants. The parallels become clear.

According to an accompanying article, the anti-vaccine lobby is fuelled by various factors, which include a mistrust of official advice. Many Leavers share that scepticism. We’ve had enough of experts, as Gove put it. But newspapers know how to get across to their readers.

Although the safety of the MMR vaccine was conclusively proved in 2005, the Mail continued to support anti-vaxxers for another 10 years, insisting that doctors were talking “a load of old baloney”. That was under its former editor but all the same, I can’t see a turnaround on Brexit by the Mail or any of our rightwing dailies in the near future, especially if we lose the battle on December 12^th. Brexit is a slow virus, which will continue to produce a gradual decline, and its ill effects will be blamed on other things.

Eventually however, as with the re-emergence of measles, the truth will surely become so obvious that it can no longer be hidden, and newspapers will see sales potential in reversing their position. The tabloids have form on making U-turns when it suits them. Remember the Hitler diaries hoax?  Rupert Murdoch bought into that deception and proclaimed they were genuine, bur he was even happier when they were exposed as fakes, because that sold even more copies of the Sun..

When I read a headline “Scandal of the Johnson lies which led to Brexit”, in the Daily Mail or maybe the i newspaper, I will know that we have reached the turning point. With the media on our side, things will be a lot easier.  It might even be possible to recover.

* John King is a retired doctor and Remain campaigner.