Frank Field is not the answer. Labour’s return to sanity must begin somewhere else and with someone else. But voices crying in the wilderness have a decent pedigree in history, and something can be learned from his brave stand. Were others to mutiny (Mike Gapes, a more clubbable figure, is reported to be considering it) the mutiny’s complexion would change.

I know Mr Field slightly. He has courage, intellect and (rare in politics) great learning. He’s on the side of the angels but he is not one of them: Frank is stubborn, difficult to rub along with, sometimes wrong, and slightly touched by the Joan of Arc syndrome. He has too often found it easier to dissent than co-operate with people, and there will be