And yet the UK has a pretty outstanding record in music, the arts, technological innovation and creative design more generally. Much of this may have been created by misfits and immigrants, but it was created within the society of its time.

Now we're down to the nostalgic costume drama and bellicose nationalism; rapacious disaster capitalism, exploitative marketing and fraudulent "service" industries. Much of the infrastructure and larger more successful businesses are foreign owned - many with no absolute requirement to stay in Britain.

Something has changed, and it is more than the decline of empire. The moneyed can live out their lives in the style to which they have become accustomed. The royal family and the soaps on TV can provide the circuses for the masses. But who is going to provide the bread?

Index of Frank's Diaries