Political loyalties have been scrambled by Brexit, Tony Blair believes. He laughs nervously when asked if that means there could be room for a new centrist party

These are crazy times everywhere, says Tony Blair, but there is something particularly “surreal” about British politics right now. “I’ve never come across a situation where the government has lost control of the agenda so completely that the word disarray is not adequate and when the opposition seems incapable of exploiting the situation.”

The former Labour prime minister watched in astonishment as Theresa May, having had her Brexit policy rejected by 230 votes, then addressed the nation from outside No 10 almost as if it were business as usual. “I thought something really big is going to happen and nothing happened. It’s an extraordinary time but the question is: how do you get out of it?”

Dressed immaculately in a crisp white shirt, navy jacket