It was just like that, because what you started to see is that all of these grand statesmen, these very pompous politicians, they were just like us.

It's the last straw for a prime minister who is a pompous and embattled figure, already suffering a complete meltdown of political unpopularity Emma Thompson does her very best with this quasi Teresa May character but there's nothing much in the script to work with.

It is no surprise, then, that for the last 400 years Don Quixote and Panza have bred many relatives and successors, including countless buffoonish boss and servant couples. Even the history of the circus is focused on such a pairing the vain, dignified White Clown and Augustus the Fool, the humble loser who is kicked in the pants by his stiff, pompous partner.

The starting point for the EU s unhappy bid to create a shared constitution had been fears that its decision making mechanisms were being overloaded by the accession of so many new members, first in May 2004 and again at the beginning of this year. The constitutional treaty was originally designed to streamline the system, and it was only later that it was over enthusiastically expanded into the lengthy and pompous document that is now a dead letter.