WATCHING Theresa May awkwardly sashaying on to the party conference stage yesterday in a pathetic attempt to boost social media presence, be more 'Boris-like', "delight the young", etc was just utterly, completely, depressing.

The country is in crisis. Food is being stockpiled ahead of the Brexit deadline. We're told we might run out of medicine.

I'm not just scaremongering either. Last month the National Police Chiefs Council, in a confidential memo about the effect of a no-deal Brexit on UK policing, wrote: "Food supplies will be affected, with Portsmouth the only port currently set up with the logistics required to accept cattle in the post-Brexit UK.

"The resultant food shortage will cause other issues such as disorder etc.

"The NHS is beginning to feel growing concern around medical supplies, with the resultant expectation that more people will become ill. Again, there is a concern that this will feed civil disorder.

"The rise in prices of most goods will also, it is feared, lead to widespread protest which could then escalate into disorder."

Road network problems, widespread protests leading to civil disorder, could mean that 'the necessity to call on military assistance is a real possibility', the memo said. Fears are being raised about the ability of the police to cope with the aftermath of no deal.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our Prime Minister, dancing to Abba, in a blatant attempt to distract us from the vital, catastrophic, issues and cling on to power with her fingernails scraping down the blackboard.

Yes her speech (if not her dancing) was polished, and yes, she managed not to cough. Tory security was on hand to ensure there were no comedians waiting in the wings with fake P45s this year, and the scenery was nailed down, to ensure no repeats of the disastrous 2017 Conservative party conference speech.

But May blissfully skirted around the impending Brexit apocalypse and instead paved the way for the possibility that we will walk away from the EU with no deal.

Crucially, she seemed to make no attempt to sell her own deal, the Chequers plan, which if still on the table is surely her key focus.

And frighteningly, she hugely downplayed the impact of no-deal, saying: "Leaving without a deal – introducing tariffs and costly checks at the border – would be a bad outcome for the UK and the EU."

Not to mention massive inflation, potential riots and food and medical shortages, and the doomsday scenario impact on business, Theresa.

"Britain isn't afraid to leave with no deal if we have to," she added. She obviously didn't read the police chiefs' memo.

Her performance – because it was that – went down well with critics.

But that is the most depressing point. Politics has become stylised.

Her attempt to out-Boris Boris was sad at best, but at least she ensured that her face is all over Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc, tonight.

Abba should make some good royalties from it. Perhaps they can use the proceeds to send grain and antibiotics when we most need it after March 2019.