Is Braveheart barmier than Boris or on the right track?

You'd think, given the broad assumption that we get wiser as we get older, that by now there would be precious few things that could wrongfoot us.

When was the last time, for example, that you were genuinely taken aback by the news that, say, a very wealthy footballer had substantially over-estimated his value to the human race; Coldplay were headlining another major music festival; or Vladimir Putin had been seen simultaneously wrestling a bear, wearing a Soviet-themed mankini and annexing Rickmansworth.

It’s something of a blessing, therefore, to find out that there are still things and people with the capacity to genuinely shock. It’s just a shock that they all seem to be on the loose at one time, and no doubt a source of great consternation to Leicester City FC that their Premier League success now seems to be about the least astounding thing that’s happened in the whole of 2016.