You have got to be long in the tooth to remember Harold Wilson. He gave us the quote “a week is a long time in politics”. A favourite of the late Queen, he could manipulate things in a way that made Mandelson look like an amateur! I wonder what he would have thought about the last couple of weeks; tumultuous times in both world and domestic events.

Trump and Netanyahu have proven once again that aerial bombardment in isolation achieves very little (other than suffering, death and destruction). Generally it unites a nation in hatred of the aggressor. Putin could have told them that.

What’s left of the Ayatollahs and their IRG sidekicks will be gloating at their “victory”, perhaps failing to notice that closing Hormuz wasn’t quite the economic shock many of us feared. Drill down, and it looks like China may have moved beyond peak oil; if so, our dependence on Middle Eastern and Russian energy may at last be waning.

Back in Blighty, Keir Starmer is like a dead man walking. No Prime Minister should be able to survive the principled resignation of his two senior defence ministers. But it may require Andy “Eyebrows the Vampire Slayer” Burnham to drive in the stake.

Writing this column two days pre the Makerfield Byelection result does of course tempt fate. But if Reform can’t win there, we have probably passed peak Farage. If Burnham wins, do your seatbelt up tight; the thrills and spills of a Zombie Labour Government, specialising in U-turns has only just started.

In fairness, if in his last few weeks, the PM gets to grips with the social media and screen time scourge on our children, he will have done something good. But amongst all the gloom and the failure, a few embers continue to glow.

Both as a player and a manager, Sir Gareth Southgate came within touching distance of footballing immortality. Maybe he is too decent and lacks a killer instinct. But he strikes me as being a really sound bloke and a deep thinker too. If you didn’t see “Changing the Game for Young Men” catch it on BBC i player. Sir Gareth highlighted the vacuum our society has created in the lives of boys and young men, and the consequences of this. Instead of optimising this critical human resource we are turning it into a toxic problem. That’s mad!

The most telling part of Al Carns’ resignation as Defence Minister is the fact that in almost two years he only had one official business meeting with Starmer. He has as much if not more combat experience than any other living Brit. In a dangerous and fast changing world it’s unbelievable that the PM didn’t tap into that font of knowledge. Actually it’s downright negligent.

But Al Carns is clearly another deep thinker. He has a vision for national security that goes way beyond bullets, bombs and battleships. He also has the wisdom to recognise that the great Scottish education (now wrecked by the SNP) that he received, along with career opportunities (in his case the Royal Marines), should be available to all young people today. He is a formidable military leader, and may yet transfer those skills to politics.

Both these men understand that re-engaging our young people is the key to national resilience, security and success. With politics being “the art of the possible”, achieving that will need Wilsonian guile coupled to the compassion of Sir Gareth and the drive of Al Carns.

That’s not coming from Farage, Lowe, Burnham or Polanski any time ever. For once I agree with Tony Blair; we need a radical centre.