“The first word I want to say,” Richard Tice began, “is ‘Sorry’.” We groaned inwardly (and in some cases outwardly). When a politician begins like that, it’s usually a bait-and-switch before they reveal that they’re apologising for promising to only deport ten thousand people, when they’ve actually now realised they can deport twenty thousand. How wrong we were. Reform’s deputy leader was, if not entirely sincere, as close to sincerity as he is capable of getting. He really did want to say sorry.

This in itself was a major news event. The Reform approach to politics is that apologies are things to be demanded from other people, not given yourself. The Nigel Farage view seems to be that once you start apologising for things you’ve said, you’ll never be able to stop. And looking at the things he in particular is alleged to have said, he probably has a point.

Now read on…