Or is that unduly pessimistic? The expenses scandal seems to have shaken the British electorate from their constitutional slumber — might we be on the cusp of a new Glorious Revolution? We shall see. It’s sad though, mused Wilson, when I rang him, that it took fingers in the till, rather than a government’s blatant disregard for the principles of British liberty, finally to stir the beast.

(Oh, and an endnote: before its official publication on 4 June, Wilson’s book was sold in electronic form, to be read as a pdf file or on the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader. Readers could pay whatever they liked for it. It was more a natty PR stunt than a money-spinner, according to the Faber press office, but this way lies the future of publishing. That’s what I read in the Guardian, anyway.)

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