As I gazed upon the first circle of hell, otherwise known as Stansted Airport, I felt as though I was witnessing a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with our hapless nation. Thousands of desperate flyers were left stranded across the UK earlier this week after what appeared to be another air traffic control cock up.

The utter confusion seemed to reflect the growing ineptitude inherent in so many of our institutions, where despite huge leaps in technology, nothing works, no one is accountable and no one cares. As the delicate tendrils of civil society withered around me, the thing I found most unnerving was the reaction of my fellow travellers.

The long-suffering passengers onboard my cancelled flight to Bergerac were a good case in point. The charming civil servant sitting next to me had been looking forward to spending some precious time with her dying mother while an elderly French woman in the seat in front told me she had to get home for a vital operation. I was lucky; all I had to do was reschedule a travel writing assignment.