The beginning is nigh

Just a few weeks ago, the Conservatives triumphed in the local government elections and Theresa May was hailed as an all-conquering Brexit Boudicca who could do no wrong. Now, after her general election humiliation, an opposite view has taken hold: that the government is a disaster, the country is in an irredeemable mess, Brexit has been derailed and nothing can go right. This is a sign that parliamentary recess is overdue; a great many people are -exhausted and a little emotional. But the facts, for those with an eye to see them, do not give grounds for such pessimism.

The Tories have lost their majority and deserved to do so after an awful campaign. But some 85 per cent of the public voted for parties promising a clean exit from the European Union, the better to retrieve sovereignty and freedom to negotiate our own trade deals with the rest of the world.