On it rumbles, the quarrel about donations to support trendy prime ministerial spectacles, posh frocks for the the first lady of No 10, freebies to support senior Labour folk’s Taylor Swift obsession – and a bemusing amount of “One Man, Two Guvnors” stays in other people’s grand residencies.

By paying back £6,000 for tickets, dresses for Lady Starmer et al, the PM has sought to draw a line under it all. But it leaves plenty of questions about how to avoid the next round of trivial but damaging turbulence which has surrounded the Government’s initiation period.

Add to that the ongoing rumbles about the unhappy house at No 10, where Sue Gray is bedding in as a mighty chief of staff, reportedly rubbing up against the role of an equally prominent Morgan McSweeney as Keir Starmer’s chief political strategist.

The revelation that Gray was paid more than the Prime Minister at £170,000, while a number of the special advisers she oversees have been annoyed at receiving lower salaries than in their previous Labour Party jobs, has unleashed an early torrent of leaks and grumbles. The result for Starmer, despite a rousing Labour victory and a baptism of fire handling a flurry of riots last month, is a popularity plunge.

What might cheer things up? Having witnessed new governments tussling with the trials of their transition to life behind the shiny black door since 1997, my advice to Starmer is to start with himself and how his inner councils gel (or........

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