Infighting turns off voters, says Chris Moncrieff

Yet here we have Nia Griffith, the shadow defence secretary, having a very public blast with Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, over the key issue of Trident.

It does not – believe it or not – appear to have entered their heads that a political party, whose members fight among each other rather than reserving their energies for their real opponents, is a real turn-off for voters who want the party of their choice at least to be at peace with itself.

There will be plenty of time and excuses for Labour Party blood-letting after the election if the party finds itself still in opposition.

Indeed there is even talk already among some resigned members of the party’s rank and file of setting up a breakaway party if this happens, in the style of the old and ill-fated SDP in the early 1980s.

Such pessimistic talk (even if justified) is no way to conduct a general election campaign – it almost invites defeat.

But for many Labour MPs, the prospect of another five years in opposition, especially under Jeremy Corbyn, is more than they can bear.

There is bound to be a leadership election in the event of a Labour defeat, but unless Corbyn quits voluntarily, he may be more difficult to shift than is generally realised

So, stormy days ahead for Labour. Indeed, there will still be huge problems for Corbyn even if Labour win. So take cover!

u She will not have much time for it now, but Theresa May is an ardent cricket fan.

She visited Lord’s soon after she entered Number 10 last summer to watch England play Pakistan.

The Prime Minister confesses to ‘having been a Geoff Boycott fan all my life. It was just that he kind of solidly got on with what he was doing’.

The former Yorkshire and England opener is also an admirer of Mrs May, praising her integrity. “She’s got a few more strokes than me,” he added.

She is unlikely to go so far as Sir John Major, who once told a reporter: “I am vice-president of Surrey County Cricket Club – by far the most important post I hold.”

And that was when he was prime minister.

A former Tory Cabinet minister, Kenneth Clarke, once lost the key to his red box at Trent Bridge cricket ground, where he is still a regular patron.

Ex-prime minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home, himself an accomplished cricketer, had an uncle who could never walk up the nave of a cathedral without wondering whether it would take spin.

And post-war Labour prime minister Clement Attlee resolutely refused to have a Press Association news machine in his Downing Street office.

That was until an aide told him that if he had one, he would get the up-to-date cricket scores all day long.

It was installed that very day.

u President Trump no doubt hopes that his eight-day overseas trip will lessen his problems in Washington over his firing of the FBI chief James Comey.

Well, it won’t and indeed there are growing signs that Trump is sinking even deeper into the mire.

And although Trump is far more amiably disposed towards the UK than was his predecessor Barack Obama, there appears to be a growing groundswell of opinion here that would like to see the back of him.

Perhaps soon we shall be talking about Mr President Pence. . .