As far as I am aware, we have not yet mastered the art of travelling backwards in time. That being so, why is it that no politician, of whatever stripe, can open their mouth without uttering the redundant phrase “going forward”, often repeatedly? Listen to any current affairs programme for a few minutes and you will hear it.

The only solution is for the whole sorry lot of them to have some kind of contraption fitted to their heads which delivers a high-voltage electro-convulsive shock each and every time they use the phrase. Perhaps – in the future – this will happen. (“In the future” is an archaic term. It used to be what people said where they now say “going forward”.)