Theresa May at one of her many meetings with Jean-Claude Juncker in October 2016

It is now 32 months since Britain was offered a choice between Leave and Remain in the EU referendum, yet the country feels even more bitterly polarised today than it was then. We seem to be as far away as ever from identifying a post-Brexit destination around which a majority in all parts of these islands could rally.

Our only chance of surmounting this huge political crisis — of healing the wounds on all sides and repairing increasingly frayed relations with our soon-to-be former EU partners — is to get away from the short-term, tactical, “survive till the end of next week” bunker thinking which has characterised this government’s approach.

The EU, it must be said, faces the same challenge. Europe needs collectively to think