A political veteran’s timely delve into identity politics

When Chris Patten was a junior minister for the North in the mid-1980s, he asked a Belfast nurse if she had recently dealt with any victims of the Troubles. “Oh yes,” she replied. “Two nights ago, we had to look after a couple of Catholic kneecappings.” The Englishman naively wondered how such things could have any religious distinction, and was informed: “Catholics use a shotgun, Protestants use a Black & Decker drill.”

As ...