On days like this you have to ask yourself one question: is it me who is going mad? Or has our politics just taken yet another turn through the looking-glass? How can we be sure that anything is real when all the old certainties are shattered?
Picture the scene. After a weekend down in Chequers sticking pins into his Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham dolls, Keir Starmer re-emerged in Labour HQ to give one of his trademark demotivational speeches to the staff. And towards the end, he promised to offer his 100% support to the Labour candidate in the Makerfield byelection. To do whatever was necessary to beat Reform.
