A fleeting TV shot of an almost empty House of Commons debating a Northern Ireland bill tells us that despite all those tattered union flags hanging from thousands of lampposts throughout the six counties the Brits are not emamoured by the local protestations of loyalty.
That was the story this week as Paul Murphy and his group of temporary minders from Stormont introduced a belated bill which attempts to rush through the appointment of a four-man monitoring commission to stop Trimble's ceasefire antics if and when, or ever, the Stormont assembly returns.
The Brits are tired of the on-again-off-again blame game between the unionists and Sinn Féin – and we are tired too – and have thought up this stunt to monitor the alleged breaches of the ceasefires.
There was a time long ago in Craigavons's day when Unionist speakers used to claim that Ulster is "as much part of the United Kingdom as Yorkshire", but no longer.
The sight of the members of the House of Commons on both sides rising and fleeting like scalded cats as soon as troubled Norn Iron was mentioned by the speaker must surely be a warning to deluded loyalists that things ain't wot they used to be.
The Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrats ran to the bars and tea rooms and some even packed up and went home... What they had to say as they ordered stiff whiskies in the bars unfortunately is not recorded but you can imagine it would be something like: "Oh! Bloody Ulster! When will they get some sense over there?
"I wonder how long Paul Murphy will stick it?" "First drink today, heres mud in their eye."
But there were a good many drinks before the end came and the 300-odd MP's who were whipped in by Labour past the monitor's four-strong commission, including one from the Republic and one from the US.
A pathetic seven MPs voted against. Guess who? It included old man Paisley, Burnside and the rest.
Their fear is that the Republic is now given a new input into the affairs of Northern Ireland! But the commission only comes into existence if an assembly is elected.
They will sit in a secret venue deciding if a red card is to be issued to this or that assembly party if their friends out in the sticks misbehave themselves.
The unionists who have a blind spot about the violent activities of the UDA, UVF etc are hoping to point the accusing finger against the IRA. It all sounds airy fairy with Paul Murphy in the unenvious position of making the final decision. Meantime, Tony Blair has to make the agonising announcement about what could be the most confused election in the history of the Northern Ireland state.
Election papers have been issued already and it looks like, come what may, a date in November has been pencilled in for the reluctant electors to sort out the wheat from the chaff, or choose between the good, the bad and the ugly.
A fateful decision, hopefully, to end the vacuum created by Trimble's disastrous walkout from Stormont.
It left the field to the paramilitary thugs, the green and orange dissidents, the RIRA bombers, the UDA pipe-bombers, the loyalist murderous feuds between the self-styled brigadiers, the intimidation of Catholic homes, schools and the final infamy of the desecration of the graveyards. There's hope that this could be the last straw and the widespread reaction to the outlandish threat to kill an old friend, the courageous Father Dan Whyte, showed that decent Protestant clergy and laity were quick to voice their sense of shame and disgust at this outrage.
Ian Paisley used to claim that "Ulster is not for sale".
He could be right but for the wrong reasons. Who wants to buy in these days?
That empty House of Commons and Bertie Ahern's anxiety to restore devolution to Stormont tell their own story.
