The funny thing is, many of these people hate each other’s guts, even though they are ideologically almost indistinguishable, as we see sharply in the chummy podcasts of erstwhile enemies like Ed Balls and George Osborne (Political Currency) or Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell (The Rest is Politics). But the outcome of their politics – supposedly hugely different but actually incredibly similar – remains the same: decay and decline.

Centrism is the wrong term for this blight. It conjures up images of quiet background competence. But this is not the case with these people. They aren’t responsible, ordinary, sensible or anywhere near the centre. They are all mental. The things they believe in are bonkers. They seem reasonable only because they are well-spoken and dress boringly, seasonal knitwear excepted.

But they are very often brimful with potty conspiracy theories and harebrained schemes – barking-mad ideas that from sheer repetition we have become inured to.

[Roberts is writing about the UK, but he may as well be writing about the US as well. Centrism here, especially of the No Labels variety, mainly consists of a soft-focus progressivism without all of the name-calling. It’s mainly a performative, behavioral centrism, one that seeks social approval by believing in nothing much at all other than consensus, primarily on liberal agenda items. — Ed]