It is beginning to look as though the USP of Nicolas Sarkozy is becoming his ability to irritate, not only his compatriots (who have marked him down sharply in the polls) but his allies. Possibly because “ally” is not a concept this self-absorbed Gallic whirlwind easily recognises.

This week he told a lunch-group of French MPs Barack Obama was “not always up to standard” in his decision-making; that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister, was “not very clever”; and that Chancellor Angela Merkel “did not have any other choice but to come round to my position” at this month’s G20 summit.