Force majeure

It's the little things which betray a man's true character.

Only the unstoppable or immovable causes Gordon Brown to withdraw from positions which he knows to be right even if when they are wrong, mad or insulting. That this makes him an exceedingly dangerous man has become clear to the whole country including the Labour remnant who will vote for him out of blind tribalism at the general election.

Brown was grossly discourteous to the Lord Mayor of London when he was guest of honour at the annual banquet for holders of his high office of state, refusing outright to wear formal dress in accordance with custom. The Chancellor of the Exchequer alone wore a lounge suit.

He thereby demeaned the office of which he was temporary custodian and insulted the people whose constitution enabled him to hold it, shoving his class warrior principles into the faces of his hosts whose industry was to shore up his socialist profligacy for the next decade and more. It doubtless gave the tasteless little man immense satisfaction.

Buckingham Palace protocol is a very great deal stronger than the political prejudices of a temporary public servant, forcing even a blustering bully like Brown to give way. This is as it should be in the office of the Head of State.

Even the Brown Boor, notorious coward that he is, had not the balls to stand against a specific Royal Command. He had to swallow hard and wear full evening dress to a State banquet for a visiting foreign head of state, within months of his party's coming into government and weeks of his insult to the City of London.

As Chancellor, though, he persisted with his sartorial discourtesies to everyone but the Head of State for a decade. Only when he became Prime Minister, knowing that the eyes of the world were following his every move, did he concede. He began to wear formal dress when asked to do so. One suspects that the Palace advised him on how to comport himself when representing the country at home and abroad, and one can be sure that the Palace's advice was not mere advice.

I wonder how Brown would respond were one of his ministers less malleable than himself, if you can imagine such a possibility, and flatly refused to wear formal dress at any function he was hosting in Number Ten.

I think I can guess.

You see, the important thing is not the subject matter but having the power of the casting vote.

In our constitution, the Head of State does not hold office by virtue of his or her talent for political mountaineering, bullying or sycophancy. The greasy pole has nothing whatsoever to do with it.

The monarch's authority, albeit wielded by the will of Parliament and people, is entirely apolitical. The monarch does not share the opprobrium heaped upon the heads, according to circumstances, of politicians. The monarch's authority is therefore greater than that of any politician, including Brown, who believes himself infallible and deludes himself that he may yet be politically immortal.

That is why I am a monarchist.