Back in Tony Blair’s first term, when he was following the Tory spending plans, before the Iraq war blotted his copy book, I remember “the death of politics” was announced by some pundit. The right had won the economic argument and the left had won the social argument. Stability and consensus were upon us. All that counted was how competent a party was to govern. If only …

This idea fell by wayside during the recession. The excesses of investment bankers ushered in 10 years of austerity for ordinary folk, while around £375bn of quantitative easing lined the pockets of … the investment bankers. No wonder people looked for new answers to the old political settlement.

The European Parliamentary elections last month showed savagely how our political views have changed. Some on the right have veered far enough in that direction that the Tories can’t keep up. They have been usurped by Farage and his new Brexit party, with 32% of the vote to its 9%. The Labour party, meanwhile, have an unclear Brexit policy under Jeremy Corbyn and got a caning in the poll.

…