It must be heartening for Marks and Spencer that, despite elusive shoppers and complaints from shareholders, the retailer can depend on one loyal customer: Max Mosley. We learnt from the court proceedings this week that the Formula 1 boss goes there for his S&M outfits.

As he told the court: “Had I wanted a Nazi scene, I would have said I wanted one and [woman A] would have got some of the inexpensive Nazi stuff from the joke shop that provides uniforms and would not have gone to Marks and Spencer and got quite expensive jackets.” Short of a Union Jack-wearing bulldog, it is hard to think of anything more quintessentially British than the combination of M&S clothes and a secret suburban sex party.