It would be the ultimate Yes, Minister plot. The people, in a high turnout in a national referendum, decide to leave the EU. A new Prime Minister and Cabinet swear to implement that decision. But the mandarins, the real masters of both policy and intrigue, work out a brilliant ruse to frustrate the lot of them.

Such has been the reaction to the remarks of the former Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell, that it might be thought that this scenario really could come to pass. He expressed the hope that Britain could still stay in some kind of “looser” EU, although I suspect he would also be clear that no such looser union is currently on offer.

It is true that senior civil servants have mainly been appalled by the referendum result, and have spent their entire careers accustomed to working within the construct of EU law. It is also true that they are entirely capable of carrying a weak minister, largely making his or her decisions for them, and making the whole system hum along regardless.

But in all my experience, civil servants respect a democratic mandate and a clear lead from decisive ministers who know what they want. And whatever problems may face the trio of new ministers in charge of leaving the EU – Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davis – not knowing what they want isn’t one of them.