“Because I’ve got this self-diagnosed OCD, I do things according to rules that I’ve created,” he said, explaining that he must have the same breakfast whether in London or Manchester: half a grapefruit, a bowl of muesli with semi-skimmed milk and a cup of coffee with a Rich Tea biscuit. “You may think I oughtn’t to have a Waterford grapefruit dish,” says the Gorton MP, “but I do. And I ate out of it today.”