To hippies of a certain vintage, the summer of 1969 is particularly resonant.

Millions have claimed to have been at the Woodstock music festival when, in fact, the actual number of people present was about 400,000.

For British politicians and political obsessives, the summer of 2016 occupies a similar place in our minds. That year remains a powerful memory for the political class, a series of moments which tick permanently in one’s consciousness.

It was a year that did more damage to our political culture than we realised – and one of the chief architects has at last expressed regret.

It was, of course, the year of the Brexit Referendum, which saw political tensions rise to a pitch I had never experienced before.

It was a summer of mayhem and drama. Every MP will know exactly where they were at the moment the first results started coming in, from Newcastle and Sunderland, on that Friday morning.

The shock of the result, the elation and despair, left a lasting impression.

Yet Michael........

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