Parliament dwellers normally maintain a detached calmness – Brexit has changed all of that

When it emerged that six in 10 people think Brexit uncertainty has been bad for their mental health, one Tory MP said to me: ‘I think all six of them are in my party’

We’ve been stuck on Brexit for 735 days now. Our patience store ran out months ago. We have but a few scraps of duty and obligation left. Some of us are starting to lose hope, others have already lost their sanity. We must accept the end is near.

I jest. But there is a real sense that it is not only the process in Westminster that has reached its absolute limit, but also the politicians, journalists and other staff. Those on the extremes of Remain and Leave went haywire ages ago, donning crazy hats and giving up work to stand outside parliament’s wrought-iron gates screaming through megaphones.

Normally those inside maintain a detached calmness. But the endless late nights, endless votes, endless defeats for everyone, endless arguments, endless intransigence and the endless problems have blurred the difference.