the corner office

It is indeed very British for people to vote in favour of calling a new research vessel Boaty McBoatface.

It is equally British for the whole damned country to then go around congratulating itself for being so British as to vote in favour of calling a new research vessel Boaty McBoatface.

And no less equally British for somebody very senior, and very sane, to eventually say "there is no bloody way we're calling a £200m new research vessel Boaty McBoatface".

And then they'll settle for the RRS David Attenborough, or call it the Victoria, or the Elizabeth, or the Catherine, or the Charlotte, and the whole episode of delightful Britishness will end with a slightly-wistful-but-with-upbeat-ending BBC News insert reflecting on what might have been. Maybe next time.