Britain has been plunged into constitutional crisis. The fabric of its democracy has been torn asunder by the cheats and charlatans who pass for the nation’s legislators. Parliament has been fatally discredited. So anyone listening to the frenzied commentary of recent days might have concluded. What nonsense.

There is no better sport than putting politicians in the stocks. MPs have been pelted for days with proof of their venality. Expenses chits for loo seats and pergolas, shifty property deals, lavish home improvements: all stand exposed to the angry gaze of the voters who picked up the bills.