This has been an extraordinary few weeks for our two biggest political parties, with passions running high and language struggling to keep pace. On the Tory side, we have had accusations of “treachery”, “treason” and “betrayal” by a prominent “back stabber”. Meanwhile, across the floor of the House, the talk has been of a “coup” and a “political lynching”.

When you consider events at the top of the Tory party, the word “treachery” does not seem hyperbolical. It comes from the Old French tricherie, the noun from the verb tricher, to cheat. It is first recorded here, with the French spelling, in the Ancrene Riwle, the rulebook for anchoresses, dating from the start of the thirteenth century. It appears at the head of a list of the “whelps” of “the fox of Covetousness”, which also includes guile, rapine, thieving, usury, extortion, unwillingness to lend and murder.

A serious crime, then. The OED defines it as “deceit, cheating, perfidy; violation of faith or betrayal of trust; perfidious conduct”. Later it applied to treasonous feelings or actions against a sovereign, lord or master. Was Boris Johnson the master of Michael Gove? Not exactly, but there is no doubt who was the leader in their campaign for Brexit.