How parochial our present anxieties will soon seem, how paltry. While we fret about chlorinated chicken and customs arrangements, developments in artificial intelligence are taking place that will transform our economy beyond recognition – and many of those developments are happening in Britain. Last week, Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, and Matt Hancock, the Digital Secretary, announced a billion-pound tech investment programme. "Artificial Intelligence is at the centre of our plans to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business," said the restless and ingenious Hancock. Unlike a lot of ministerial visions, this one might actually be realised.

In Brexit Britain, robots are booting up to fill jobs held by European migrants as Prime Minister Theresa May's government prepares to cut immigration.