A internal report has described the LibDem campaign in last year’s general election as a “high speed car crash.”   It is indisputable that the result was not one they would have wished for.   And not just them.

Hard hitting as it is, I am not sure the report goes far enough.  It is true that Jo Swinson was fresh in her post, and that she may have encountered a gender bias, but the fact is that her claim to be a prime minister in waiting was not credible.  She simply did not have the chutzpah.

The report says that the LibDem’s decision to go all out to fight Brexit was a mistake, and that it was an issue over which many voters simply did not care much either way.  I’m not so sure;  the outcry against Brexit had been loud and clear: if demonstrations mean anything they are a gauge of public feeling and the anti-Brexit demonstrations were gigantic.  But the policy of repealing Article 50 or, if that could not be achieved holding a second referendum,  was confusing.  It did not take account of the strong anti-Europe feeling which persisted – and persists – and threatened to replace one undemocratic process (a vote based on ignorance and lies) with another,  because a general election is not a straw poll on a single issue, no matter how important.

That takes me to the core of the problem: the general election itself.  The decision by opposition parties – and the LibDems were as responsible as any other – to rise to Johnson’s bait and fight the Tories in a general election was crazy.  Comrade Corbyn was widely seen as unelectable, and with the best will in the world Ms Swinson had only been leader for 5 months and although she did have ministerial experience it was hardly headline stuff.  Not only did they not stand a chance, but they brought down with them any serious opposition Johnson might have faced.  Gone are the noble band; defectors of left and right,  who put principle before power.

The decision  – and, let me be clear, prime responsibility for it rests squarely on the shoulders of the good Comrade – to enter the fray, has resulted in an extremist government bereft of talent and experience, but with a majority of 80.  In practical terms unassailable for another 4.5 years. All political careers, said Powell, end in failure.  As failures go the legacy of this one is a humdinger.