Brexit is the monster under the bed Liz Truss is desperately trying to ignore

‘Liz Truss claims that backing the wrong horse in the Brexit referendum taught her to discard orthodox economic thinking.’ Photograph: John Sibley/Reuters

There is a book that foresaw with precision this summer’s Conservative leadership contest, although it was first published in 1980. It is a thin volume about denial and negligence, making its point with few words and colourful illustrations. It is called Not now, Bernard by David McKee.

The titular hero is a boy who tries to alert his parents to the presence of a child-eating monster in the garden. They are busy with other things. “Not now, Bernard,” says the father, striking his own hand with a hammer. “Not now, Bernard,” says the mother, watering a plant.