As sacrifices go, it may not seem very much. But as symbols go, it says a lot.

Theresa May’s decision to give up her favourite crisps for Lent may not have been headline news. I suspect, however, that it’s at least as important as anything else we’ve discovered in the past ten days. Because it goes to the heart of the beliefs that guide, and the background that has shaped, our prime minister.

The principle of Lenten sacrifice, of giving up something cherished to recall the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, is a discipline observed by many Christians. But it is particularly a feature of Catholic practice. And Theresa May is, I believe, Britain’s first Catholic prime minister.

An Anglo-Catholic rather than a