Sometimes it feels as though the world has turned upside down.

One of the most sobering moments of party conference for me was when, taking a step outside my normal local government beat, I heard a former secretary of state for international development argue that we were living through the most dangerous moment in international affairs since the 1930s. 

Some aspects of this are obvious. Russia, a member of the UN security council, continues to dump tonnes of high explosives on civilians in Aleppo, oblivious to criticism and without any restraint from the international community.