WHAT is the point of the continued existence of Ukip, now that voters endorsed the concept of Brexit in the referendum last June? You might think they would quietly and happily disperse under the banner of “mission accomplished”.

But no. Ukip does not disperse and it certainly does not do anything quietly. At the moment, they are engaged in a bitter and savage civil war of self-destruction that makes the troubles in the Labour Party seem tame by comparison.

Ukip’s former leader Nigel Farage is having a blistering feud with the party’s only MP, Popeye the Sailorman lookalike Douglas Carswell, who is said to be inching back towards his former party the Tories again.

The mud has been flying in all directions as the two men hurl insult after insult at each other.

If Carswell really does want to rejoin the Conservatives, which he denies, he could do that by simply announcing that and staying in Parliament. But that could bring his political career to an abrupt halt.

If he did the honourable thing and resigned to create a by-election, where would he go? Surely his former Clacton Conservative Party would not welcome back a defector who has twice defeated them at the polls.

And I cannot see other constituency Conservative parties taking on a turncoat - especially someone who may do it twice.

Meanwhile Farage’s friendship with President Trump must do wonders for his already considerable ego, but I would doubt whether it will earn him brownie points anywhere else.

Elsewhere, businessman Arron Banks, Ukip’s biggest benefactor, has described the current leader Paul Nuttall as “weak” and claimed the party is being run like a squash club committee.

What an utter shambles! Perhaps David Cameron was right when he described Ukip as a home for loonies and fruitcakes.

IF you are expecting an end-to-austerity Budget and a crash-bang-wallop spending spree tomorrow, prepare for an acute shock.

Theresa May’s abrupt removal of George Osborne from the Treasury and the arrival of his replacement, the dour Philip Hammond does not mean the Treasury’s fiscal policies are suddenly to be turned upside down.

The UK economy has stood up well to the EU referendum result last June, but that is not a signal to untie the purse strings and spray money all over the place. That would be both “reckless and unsustainable” Hammond has warned.

However, with higher-than-expected tax receipts, Hammond should be able to undershoot his borrowing target, with the expectation of a £45bn windfall over the next five years. In fact the principal serious beneficiaries from this “manna from heaven” seem likely to be theNHS and social care, which is becoming an increasing problem as people live longer.

Closer to home, we are also likely to see an attack on the scourge of the small print and unintelligible language used often in even small contracts with long-suffering consumers. Hammond is not renowned as an all-singing, all-dancing politician, and he is unlikely to put the British nation in that mood either.