Life's full of surprises.

Not the least of which is that when asked to remove their poppies by their Chinese hosts David Cameron and his ministers politely but firmly refused. It'd be a bit churlish to suggest that had they complied there'd have been hell to pay with the media back home and that might have been the main reason, but I can't help but feel Cameron is far enough away from an election to expect early controversies to be largely forgotten by the time they'd be really damaging. Besides, I'm not sure that he, like his predecessors, really gives a rip about public opinion unless it agrees with government policy (cf further powers to Europe, referendum U turn, all the illiberal laws passed by NuLabour that we're still waiting for the Cobbleition to repeal, and so on). The most likely explanation seems to me to be that he has unexpectedly grown a set.