Why don’t people trust politicians? Could it be because they rubbish their opponents while praising themselves, contradicting two of the basic principles of polite good manners? If X says Y is a disgrace to humanity and Y says the same about X, aren’t we tempted to disapprove of both? Or could it be on top of that, that politicians inhabit a virtual reality of their own construction that ordinary people can tell at a glance is false?

I agree with the consensus of commentators that Theresa May will win the 8 June general election by a substantial margin. Indeed, that same consensus is convinced that her only reason for calling the election now was because the opinion polls are so overwhelmingly in her favour. With a strong Opposition, led by, say, Yvette Cooper or Sir Keir Starmer, all bets would be off.

So it seems generally agreed she’s not telling the whole truth. The reasons she has herself given are pretty implausible. “At this moment of enormous national significance, there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division,” she said. “The country is coming together, but Westminster is not.”