A government left paralysed by a botched election; a faltering economy; a spate of ugly terrorist attacks; a London tower block engulfed by an appalling fire. There are no visible connections here. The impact, though, is cumulative.
A year ago Britain voted to leave the EU. A vibrant nation, the Brexiters promised, would unshackle itself from a sinking continent. How fast the wheel can turn. The promised adventure — “global Britain”, Theresa May, the now badly wounded prime minister, calls it — is suddenly freighted with risk. Politics could yet render Brexit impossible.
Across the channel, the winds are blowing in the other direction. Optimism now belongs to the continent’s capitals. Growth is picking up, populists are in retreat. In Paris this week Emmanuel Macron, France’s new president, put the finishing touches to his La République en Marche administration. The party did not exist two years ago. Now it has the “strong and stable” mandate denied to Mrs May’s Conservatives.