In a week in which we plunged further into Brexit chaos, Lily Allen gave fans a much needed antidote. Political references poured out of the pop maverick’s mouth all evening but it was a litany of self-deprecation in what ultimately became a searing diaristic show that proved most moving.

Allen leaned heavy on material from new album No Shame. During her set, the Londoner grappled with divorce, addiction, depression, inadequate parenting, self-doubt and media intrusion - all without losing any of her infectious personality that made her a cultural beacon more than ten years ago.

The media loves to pick on Allen. She’s been attacked for her drinking habits and battled through a public breakup. Most appallingly, she was blamed for the stillbirth of her only son.

Sporting a sleek platinum wig and green metallic eyeshadow, she opened with ‘Come On Then,’ which directly addresses the criticism she too often receives: “Yeah I’m a bad mother, I’m a bad wife, you saw it on the socials, you read it online.” Her tone is vulnerable but prickly, a complexity she balances perfectly all evening.

But the strongest songs come when Lily showcases her ability to embody the perspectives of other people in her life.

On ‘Three’, she delves into the feeling of maternal guilt and the societal pressures of being a mother. Singing from her daughters’ point of view, she coos: “This afternoon I made a papier-mâché fish, mum. I made it just for you, please don’t go, stay here with me, it’s not my fault, I’m only three.”

A highlight from No Shame is 'Family Man', a song that criticises an ex while still managing to discuss her own flaws. Before she sings the track, she reveals: “This next song is about the disintegration of my marriage, I wrote this before me and Sam had even broken up… he told me a few days ago he’s got new girlfriend.”

Further lacerations of herself come on ‘Apples’, where she compares her own divorce to her parents: “I had to do it baby, we were both depressed, towards the end we were not even having sex, I felt like I was only good for writing the cheques… I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.”

Prior to performing ‘The Fear’, she said: “I wrote this song in 2009, at the time people used to write about this song as if it was a comment on celebrity culture but actually it was me kind of looking at the beginnings of social media and how people were interacting with each other in a new way.”

Concluding with ‘Fuck You’, Allen quipped: “I touched on the goon that is Theresa May earlier but actually, do you know who the real problem is? David Cameron. Let’s be honest, that guy was a proper prick.

“I wrote this song a long time ago about George W. Bush, at that time he felt like the worst thing in the world, but that was a long time ago, now we have a Mussolini in the White House, Theresa may running Brexit, fucking right wing fascists in Brazil and Hungary, everywhere you can fucking think of fascism is on the rise. Fuck you fascists.”

Love her or loathe her, Lily Allen is the national treasure Britain needs, even if she’s not the one they unanimously want.