The dreadful state of British politics

Conference season always shows our political parties at their worst. It would be a kindness if these things were not televised. These dungeons cannot withstand the intrusion of too much daylight. On the other hand, some things are evident. Chiefly, it is now beyond clear that Brexit has broken both parties. More than that, it has overwhelmed a hopelessly overmatched political class that plainly lacks the ability to make sense of the Brexit fiasco and, just as pertinently, the courage to look reality in the face.

This government – this hopeless government, I should say – is kept alive by only one thing: the impossibility of the opposition. In turn, this opposition is given hope by only one thing: the clattering uselessness of this government. A movable force meets a stoppable object and neither, remarkably, can defeat the other. This is the true state of Britain today: Theresa May cannot put Jeremy Corbyn away and Jeremy Corbyn cannot even defeat Theresa May.