Jeremy Hunt can’t undo the damage already done to Britain

‘‘The Tories have taken a wrecking ball to the economy, our constitution and the country as a whole. We need them gone.’ Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Jeremy Hunt insists that the prime minister is still the one in charge; that the end destination of her agenda is the right one, and that this whole volte-face is simply a matter of changing how we get there. His euphemism is no doubt intended as an emollient to his troubled party as much as the markets, but it’s an insult to anyone with a functioning brain cell. It’s like saying the end goal was to not get eaten by lions, and then persisting with a prime minister dressed like a gazelle.

Such colossal and ruinous misjudgment should have been enough to remove multiple prime ministers many times over, let alone one clinging to power.