When Lord Kerr whistled, voters turned the Nelsonian equivalent of a deaf ear. When they whistled, he was dragged helplessly along by the command of a democratic vote.
His big win marks the end of the EU Ascendancy and the beginning of a new era: that of Britain as a sovereign nation.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, he still has a fighting chance of gaining an election – and then winning it.
Don’t be so distracted by the actors – and all the talk of deselection and elections – as to miss the drama’s bigger picture.
If May’s deal goes down, three words from John Kerr last year will highlight a choice for this new one.
Fairly or unfairly, the pro-EU cause is already associated with elites. The arrival of the Withdrawal Bill in the Upper House will do nothing to diminish that impression.
They will debate. They may even ask the Commons to look again. But the Bill will pass.
The big lesson of Ivan Rogers’s resignation is that they must adapt to the cultural sea-change that last year’s referendum is bringing about.
They must not be allowed to succeed.
The key point at stake is not what Parliament has a right to do, but what it is wise to do – in the wake of the most emphatic popular vote in modern history.
The Supreme Court’s most important constitutional law decision this year was dangerously wrong.
Worse, its judgement has knock-on implications for the effectiveness of government. Urgent corrective legislation is needed.