Did you know that 46 words from the start of Psalm 46 is the word “Shake” and 46 words from its end is the word “Spear”. And in 1610/11, the Bard was 46 years old. Intriguing, if inconclusive. 46 is the famous Psalm “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…..”

Curiously enough, that is one of 365 times in the Bible we are enjoined not to be afraid, as the lovely new vicar in Royal Wootton Bassett told us at the Remembrance service on Sunday.

Courage is something in plentiful supply amongst those we remembered last weekend. Not just amongst our sailors, soldiers and airmen, not just those who gave their lives for our freedoms, but also those who have to live with the memories; and those they left behind.

I went to six Remembrance services all told, and so had lots of time to ponder what we were doing. To wonder why the Tower of London sea of poppies was so important to us all. It’s about remembering our war dead (1968 is the only year since the Second World War that we have lost not a single soldier on active duties); it’s about honouring those who serve. But maybe it’s as much about their courage as about their lost comrades?

Courage is something we may be a little short of in modern political life. But it is what the electorate crave. They want to be led, to be told the truth, to fight wars for the good of the nation and the world. They don’t want spin, chicanery or political games. They remember with gratitude the falling of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago; think proudly of the Thatcherite years correcting so much that was wrong with our nation (even if they disagree with some of the things she did); buy the new Boris Johnson book on The Churchill Factor to ponder what really made him great.

I was in a minority a couple of times this week. I was one of the 36 rebels over the European Arrest Warrant, and one of those most outraged by the Government’s shenanigans over the vote on it. My whip got both barrels over that one.

And I am not ashamed to have spoken up against the amalgamation of the Wiltshire and Dorset fire services. I believe it to be the wrong thing to do, do not for a second think that it will make either fire service solvent, and know that it will be only a few years before the same management consultants say it has not worked.

It’s a battle I lost, but not one I am ashamed to have fought.