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It’s not a cop-out on my part, It’s a statement of the perfectly obvious.”But Mr Patten’s position is inherently untenable. He accuses opponents of the deal of “focusing on a different political agenda”. Choosing his words carefully, he says that their focus is “How will the government behave after 1997?”. In other words, will powers now used benignly be taken up and used in a ruthless manner by the new Chinese-controlled administration?The Governor declines to say what will happen – “my ability to provide people with the reassurance they want” is limited, he explains “They will have to be answered by China. Even members of other parties, who can normally be counted on to put their hands up in favour of anything approved by China, have expressed a determination to amend the government’s Bill.Concern over the future of the legal system is a cornerstone of unease over the future of Hong Kong.

Opponents of the deal say that it will weaken the judiciary at its highest level and thus undermine the entire legal system Unsurprisingly, Mr Patten see things differently. “It was a hole out of which I was delighted to climb,” he says. The crux of his argument is that an agreement is better than no agreement, albeit one falling short of perfection, and that it gives the Hong Kong legislature a role in establishing the court, rather than allowing China to do whatever it wants.Although determined to fight for the deal, he is equally determined, much to China’s annoyance, to give legislators the last word, saying that if they give the “thumbs down, that’s it”. Mr Patten’s former wary allies in the democratic camp are so angry about the deal that they have tabled an unprecedented motion of no-confidence in the Governor. His personal opinion-poll ratings are falling but still register a roughly 50 per cent satisfaction score and, despite the fact that practically every single member of the legislature is now opposed to the Governor, the government still gets practically all its Bills and spending proposals through the chamber unscathed.However, Patten now faces one of the biggest legislative tests of his governorship, with the coming attempt to enact the Sino-British deal on the establishment of a new court of final appeal.

“If this government was able to stand for re-election it would win at a canter,” he says in the safe knowledge that the claim can never be put to the test Yet he has a point. “I think the pity of it is that so much political comment in Hong Kong depends on two letters on the word processor: it’s either ‘c’ for confrontation or ‘k’ for kowtow.”His argument is that although Hong Kong’s politicians, businessmen and other community leaders may be shunning him, the public is backing him. For not a single Chinese official will even speak to Chris Patten. The leaders of the business community shun him like a bad smell and even members of his civil service are discreetly erecting barriers between themselves and their boss. Now even the democratic camp, which entered into a tactical alliance with the Governor to push through his reform programme, has taken against him.
“The British colonial governor is not going to have many people queuing up to go into the trenches with him,” says Mr Patten without rancour, describing himself in the third person to somehow depersonalise the issue. Inside sat Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, mildly amused by the weather’s histrionics: “Wagnerian” he called them.

Meanwhile, he was not in the least dismayed to be asked, on the third anniversary of his appointment, how it felt to be the most isolated governor in Hong Kong’s history. Was nature conspiring to produce the appropriate atmospherics? Outside the Governor’s office a furious storm was bellowing, the skies emptying with cascades of rain. Certainly not anything to do with running the country.”Thought for the week: “I would much rather be governed by Jacques Chirac than anyone else. I would certainly rather be governed from Brussels than from Westminster. You don’t get people like Tony Marlow at Brussels.” – Jonathan Meades, on Sandi Toksvig’s programme on Radio 4. The psychological pressures of living in an all-male community Not much else In fact, nothing else. Do you remember at the time of the last election John Major condemned opinion polls for being inaccurate? Well, if he was right, then he should be even more contemptuous of the basis of the Tory leadership contest.”Well, if Robert Q Sample were given 300 male, white Tory MPs to ask questions of, what subjects would he choose to test their opinions on? “Hair treatment methods Travelling.

As a system for choosing a representative leader for anything else, it is hopeless. Women, Asians, youth and the working class were virtually unrepresented, as were the unemployed.The Tory party system for choosing a leader for 300 MPs is admirable. The 300 people who were eligible to vote were all from the same narrow band of the electorate – almost all male, white and middle class, and none young. Do you think a man who leads 300 people will also be the best person to govern 50 million? It seems a doubtful proposition to me.”Then again, look at the make-up of the sample. Nowhere in the question form is it mentioned that the leader of these 300 people will also be the leader of over 50 million people.