People do not seek much from their elected tribunes. Mostly, they want peace and quiet, security and reassurance. An absence of turmoil.

Right now, the political system is offering the opposite. Self-evidently, that is the case in conflict zones. But it is also true in the supposedly stable West.

There is a fundamental contest under way - with those who purport to be on the side of the people pitching themselves against those whom they decry as the failing Establishment.

Look at the recent elections in the UK and the USA. Sir Keir Starmer did not enter Downing Street on a tide of love. Rather, he benefited from loathing directed at the departing Tories. A revulsion he helped foment.

That does not mean that his election was illegitimate. Rather, that it is predicated upon disquiet and discontent, rather than optimism and hope.

Read more by Brian Taylor

In the USA, Donald Trump regained the White House by positing himself as the voice of a disgruntled people. A siren yelling at an Establishment which he chose to depict as anyone opposed to him.

This political turmoil has common origins on both sides of the Atlantic; a sluggish, static economy. It can thus be traced back to the banking crash of 2008.

Folk feel unsettled and discontented. Looking for scapegoats, they blame – or are exhorted to blame – those who have held power over a prolonged period.

In EU countries like Germany and France, that has resulted in the rise of the populist Right, held off – just, so far – by more mainstream offers.

In the USA, that has meant the election of a President – whose supporters previously stormed the Capitol building and who is........

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