Post-referendum chaos shows the inadequacy of our political class

Today’s politicians lack the intellectual heft and stature of our bygone leaders

Britain’s self-harming Brexit crisis, its unsettling outcome made worse by the feeble incoherence of the political class’s response, again highlights a wider problem for us all. What has gone wrong with quality control on the production lines of leadership in public life?

It’s not just our problem, of course, any more than aggressive populism tinged with nationalism is unique to Brexit, though parochial Brexiters may think so. There are people like them, thinking the same, in every country; that’s the point. Our national mood, angry and resentful, is part of a bigger malaise. Let’s call it Trumpery.

Related: Brexit: Osborne tries to calm markets as Angela Eagle joins Labour resignations - live

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