The talk seemed to go OK, though you can never tell. About 60 there? I kept it short and informal. My host thought parts of it might be ‘outside their comfort zone’ (I think he meant a bit left-wing), and so made them think; but that’s not a bad thing. Everyone very formally dressed, as Kajsa warned me, but some – obviously the rebels – had open-neck shirts. Food v.g., and genuine champagne, not Prosecco (I checked). 80% men. A nice bunch of people. Probably.

What made me sad was how upset they felt about Brexit. They had regarded the Brits as their main allies in Europe, sharing many of the same criticisms of the EU that they have. That made me feel guilty. As well as fucking ourselves up, we’ve betrayed our friends.