IT'S been very easy to criticise and ignore The Brits in recent years. What was once must-watch TV full of memorable incidents and mishaps, slowly turned into a dull luuvy fest as bland and uninspiring as much of the music is was supposedly celebrating.

Thank goodness then for this year's events which judging by the amount of people talking about it in the office the morning after restored The Brits once again into an event which placed UK music front centre in the nation's conversation.

Bizarrely (and I can't believe I'm writing this) much of the credit for 2018's success has to go down to presenter Jack Whitehall who took over from the execrable James Corden and ended up absolutely owning the ceremony. Up until now I've been a little unimpressed by his posh boy buffoonishness but a recent appearance on Desert Island Discs won me over and the Brits sealed the deal. He was full of funny one-liners and always willing to prick the pomposity of what has become a very over-earnest event: he managed top coax one of the lines of the night from Cheryl Tweedy and Liam Payne and told some good jokes about Ronnie Wood and Spotify but his best moment was to allow a rather 'tired and emotional' Damon Albarn to finish his rambling speech about 'not being divided' before whispering into the camera “I think he’s talking about Brexit". Nice one Jack.

Musically this will surely be remembered as Stormzy's night and fully deserved it was too. As a cultural phenomenon, the South Londoner has been growing in influence after his endorsement of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn last year but his performance and five awards felt not only a watershed moment for grime music but also a defining chapter in political protest as he eloquently delivered a furious attack on Theresa May. “Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?” he rapped in the direction of the prime minister, adding that the government “just forgot about Grenfell, you criminals, and you got the cheek to call us savages, you should do some jail time, you should pay some damages, we should burn your house down and see if you can manage this.”

It was a hugely powerful moment and one that proved the Brits and British music still had the ability to shock, provoke and hold a tune at the same time.