Yes, I did know he is one degree away from becoming the mafia equivalent of a made man. Naturally, when I became aware I viewed him with the gravest suspicion. I used to be chummy with a keen Mason at the local lodge who clocked out several years ago. "How old's your grandmother?" is one of the secrets he revealed. That query is one of a number asked to identify themselves as a 'fellow traveller.' He was a Thatcher lover and loathed Geoffrey Howe whom he insisted was definitely a 33rd-er and speculated he was ordered to become Brutus by the UK head honcho, the Duke of Kent.