Anyone who has ever worked for a large business or serious organisation will be aware of the need for proper forward planning. Under the cover of all that annoying talk about strategy and “blue-sky thinking”, good companies think ahead and ask practical questions. What are we going to do next year to make more money? What could go wrong? What decisions have to be taken now to avert potential difficulties?

It is in this context, with business and the wider country asking what the precise plan is for Brexit, that the prime minister’s make or break speech in Florence tomorrow should be seen. In the last year business leaders have been messed around enough by the Tories, who all but branded them crooks in their