The mystery of whether this can be attributed to a No 10 chief of staff who is actually an electoral strategist will sadly never be solved

Their cognitive block on “the policies do actually have to work. You are the government and wil be judged on outcomes” is fascinating

There is abundant evidence in the social science literature that (a) social norms matter (b) political elites play an important role in setting and reinforcing social norms (c) that 'unexpected' rhetoric behaviour (e.g. centre left sounding intolerant) has more powerful corrosive effect on norms.

All that said, Stephen is entirely right when he says this: "this government’s biggest failing, which is that it is essentially incapable of saying that racism is wrong, full stop. That is a far bigger contributor to emboldened racism in the UK."

Mahmood may have used blunter language, but in both her language and her thinking she is the heir to both Jenkins and Thatcher, and indeed to every other Home Secretary arguing for control. The notion that race relations and immigration numbers are linked seems an article of Home Office faith. /ends

For example, Mrs Thatcher in her infamous Granada interview, where she said people were worried about being "swamped" by those with a different culture, said "if you want good race relations, you have got to allay peoples’ fears on numbers."