How is one to explain the unending catastrophe of the last five years? The prospectus of those who sought to drag the United Kingdom out of the European Union by any means possible promised busloads of cash which would no longer be sent overseas; a new, special, relationship with Europe; a strong, clear voice in international relations; the restoration of parliamentary sovereignty and fishing grounds, and so on. And how did it all turn out? Four incoherent years later there is chaos where there was order, mendacity where there was accountability, disrespect where there had been civility, incompetence where there had been ability, lying where there was once honour, and insouciance where once there was government. Covid stalks the land, while the streets of London are deserted: quem iuppiter vult perdere, dementat prius.