But it has got worse. Our attention spans have become shorter, and the arrival of social media has intensified the fury in the national debate. For politicians and journalists alike, a viral post – the punchier the better – represents a good day in the office. You no longer need to wait to be invited on to Radio 4’s World at One to make your case against your leader, because a few words on X during a boring train journey can change the news agenda in an instant. It would be stretching it to say that this is responsible for the rapid turnover of ministers and prime ministers – the global financial crisis and Brexit have had rather more of an effect – but the media environment hasn’t helped at all.