Political argument in Britain has stopped when we need it most

You can see divisions hardening in Britain, like rigor mortis spreading through a corpse. Joints are stiffening everywhere you look. If you doubt me, turn your eyes to the right and notice how politicians and commentators speak as if they are reading from a script, which allows no debate or argument about detail.

No Brexiter says, for instance, they support Britain leaving the EU, but think we should stay in the customs union to protect the hard-won peace in Ireland. In theory, there are dozens of different ways of leaving. In practice, everyone on the right wants the same Brexit, even though with the clock ticking, now is the time when argument is needed more than ever.

No right-wing equivalent of the Vatican or Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party gives out the approved dogma. The crowd chants in unison – apparently of its own volition.

The British establishment was once described as ‘a committee that never meets’.