It sounds unlikely but the most interesting political remark of recent times was uttered by Jeremy Corbyn at the Welsh Labour Party conference in Llandudno on Saturday, April 13. It helps to explain why, with the government in a mess, Labour managed only a stunningly poor 14 per cent in the European elections. Mr Corbyn has received a lot of criticism for his studied vagueness on a second referendum but his problems run deeper even than that. He is beginning to look like a politician out of time.

Mr Corbyn’s case in Wales was, on the face of it, a perfectly reasonable call for unity after Brexit. It is easy to share his fear that “we could all retreat to our respective side of the