‘The trouble with bureaucracy running amok is that it has the unfortunate tendency to keep running amok,” wrote Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former strategist and leading Leave campaigner, in his book More Human. “Once the ball started rolling, bureaucracy begat bureaucracy, government grew larger and more distant.”

Oh the irony. The Brexiteers, who railed against the over-powerful Brussels machine, now find themselves presiding over a sprawling Brexit bureaucracy that will cost billions and further alienate voters. There is not one Whitehall department but three responsible for managing departure from the EU. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been boosted by the new Departments for Exiting the European Union and International Trade, setting out to negotiate the terms of the UK’s relationships around the world.