This is a carefully-calibrated balancing exercise that honours two rebels who have recently come home.
Whichever adviser wrote May’s joke about his knighthood is likely now in his shoes after the publication of her resignation honours list.
The former award explodes the conspiracy theory that honours are being given only to backers of May’s deal.
A Brexiteer backbencher and former minister, who has not yet signalled how he intends to vote on the deal, has been knighted.
There has been a tendency to suppose that because Britain’s power has declined in relative terms they must have become totally useless.
The honours appear to be some compensation for both men having been shuffled out of government roles over the summer.
May’s manifesto is real politics – that’s to say, a serious attempt to prepare Britain for the post-Brexit challenges of the future.
As is Ben Wallace, the Security Minister.
Burning down a dirty house is more newsworthy than cleaning it, but not wiser.
Which former aide turned down a peerage? See text (and picture left).
Answers to be published this afternoon.
Scrap HS2. Integrate social care. Abolish NI. Reverse police cuts. Consider a new Bill of Rights. And much, much more.