The excellence of French flats is so well known in America, that the owner will often refer to his property as first class French flats.

But let an individual make a difficult personal decision with which those same conservatives disagree, and they suddenly become as intrusive and regulation-minded as the liberalest liberal.

Blackpool, chasing a seventh win in 17 league matches, simply could not contain Sunderland's rampant attack and had to resort to a combination of last-ditch defending, fine goalkeeping and a large slice of fortune.

At the other extreme, the view has been that light-handed 'regulation' is a euphemism for 'handsoff'.