The shock of a non-Brexit political story

The tragedy on an industrial estate in Grays is a political story, and a sharp reminder that there is more to politics than Brexit

Police and forensic officers at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, Essex, after 39 bodies were found inside a lorry (PA)

For more than three years, Britain’s attempt to leave the EU has been the dominant news story for political journalists, and the coverage has been particularly intense over the past four months.

But the discovery of 39 bodies in a container lorry in Essex cut through the obsession with treaty clauses and parliamentary procedure like a shock of lightning, suddenly making visible a hidden story.

There have been other non-Brexit stories in the news recently. There have been goings on in the royal family, and between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, but the tragedy on an industrial estate in Grays is a political story, and a sharp reminder that there is more to politics than Brexit.