NOT until the ex-Foreign Office bore Sir Percy Cradock kept going on (and on) about the Joint Declaration did we have any idea of his villainous part in formulating this tainted document.
Sir Percy these days seems to get his perspective of Hong Kong while sitting in an armchair at a snooty gentleman's club in London, mumbling over G & T's with other ''Sino-centrics'' like himself.
There they remember the days when they sorted out the British Empire between breakfast and lunch, with a break for tiffin in between, and agonise over how history will treat them.
So the old boy can be excused his huffing and puffing as he desperately tries to preserve with honour the passing sentence he warrants in recent Sino-British history.
But what interests us is news that Sir Percy is now demanding fees for interviews. Which means the sentiments we thought came from the heart appear to be coming from the general direction of his hip.
Mmmm. Penny for your thoughts, Sir Percy?