Theresa May’s leadership is in crisis – again. Or maybe “still” would be the more appropriate word. This seems to be settling into a chronic condition, rather than a recurring affliction. To be scrupulously fair, wouldn’t any prime minister, from any party, be subject to constant threat under these very exceptional circumstances? There is no political leader in the country who could rely on unanimous support from his followers on the process of Brexit negotiations, especially given the obstacle course that the EU is determined to make of them.

But that’s enough fairness. The problems (or “challenges”, as Mrs May would probably call them) may be unusually testing, but there really is no excuse for dealing with them in the worst way possible. Which is to say, not dealing with them at all, except when it is too late: when they have already burst upon the scene, leaving shattered bits of government credibility all over the stage.

This is not to say that Brexit – and the chaos that erupts over it within Mrs May’s own government at regular intervals – is the only problem. In fact, it is just the most obvious symptom of a wider difficulty that is inherent in her attitude to being prime minister.