Dare we dream that this nonsense could yet be consigned to the bin?

Like some other unpleasant aspects of life, it hasn’t gone away, but we can afford to take a breath and there’s more time to do some panic buying so that’ll boost the economy in the short term too.

In the longer term, the fact that Parliament now appears to be being run by a smallish but loud man who was once a Conservative but who now seems bent on thwarting the Brexiteers, could be a blessing.

With Europe now willing to postpone the deal only for long enough for the Dancing Queen to drag her dead horse - sorry the Withdrawal Agreement - through the House one more time, Mr Bercow’s efforts to ban a third bid for glory offers the promise of some delicious entertainment.

Since the EU won’t change the deal and Bercow won’t allow another vote, we’re firmly in Chuckle Brothers territory on a scale that makes the Stormont Stand Off look like a Generation Game challenge except that nobody’s going to do well...

As we look back on a week that saw parents lose children and children lose a mother in the most tragic circumstances, while in the USA the president continues to dance on the grave of a national hero, the leadership shown by New Zealand Premier Jacinda Ardern stands in shocking contrast to the dismal failure of our politicians; of all stripes and across the nation to act with any apparent degree of common sense, humility or dignity.

Meanwhile, an online petition to have the whole sorry Brexit saga consigned to the dustbin of history has, as we go to print, reached more than three million signatures.

A petition calling for Article 50 to be revoked and Brexit cancelled has crashed a couple of times under the weight of suport the Indpependent paper reported.

The milestone, hit by midday on Friday, was reached after more than two million people signed up in less than 24 hours.

It has since become the Parliament website’s fastest growing petition. Will it and the growing chorus of disapproval do any good?

We can only hope...