Brexit preparations intensify - Prepare for the worst but live in hope

It may overstate the case to suggest that David Axelrod, the chief strategist for former US president Barack Obama’s election campaigns, regrets his sneering during the 2016 presidential election every day but it is certain he, and maybe millions of others, will never forget it.

He patronisingly goaded Donald Trump, suggesting that when the campaign moved beyond the “swimsuit stage” his limitations would be exposed and Hilary Clinton would march towards her inevitable coronation.