Thank you for being a subscriber to Reaction, and a warm welcome to those of you who have signed up in the last week. I hope you are enjoying the evening briefing from my colleague Caitlin. This weekly newsletter for paying subscribers is the only place to read me now and if you upgrade to paid you know you are also supporting independent journalism and the work of our team. Thanks again – Iain Martin.
The wartime slogan Keep Calm and Carry On became such a commonplace sight in Britain more than a decade ago that it seemed as though it had become, tongue in cheek, glib and knowing, the national mission statement. The wartime public information poster carrying the slogan was everywhere for a while – on mugs and tea towels, on clothing, reprinted posters, or bowdlerised and adapted as a “meme” for birthday cards.