As I do at this time every year, I’m picking up my pen in Orkney and thinking about the political season to come. The landscapes and waterscapes of the islands, especially when the sun dapples them, are great bringers of serenity – perhaps the rarest commodity currently in Westminster, Whitehall and far beyond among all those who care for the well-being of the United Kingdom, the quality of its national conversation, social cohesion and economic performance.

On one thing there is agreement: we are not living through a purple patch; over the last political season, the better angels of our nature were rarely on display.