The report recommended a radical overhaul of the service, and came under considerable fire from Ulster Unionists who objected to proposals for a name change, a new badge, a new oath of allegiance and a new flag.
He nodded towards the pain inflicted by storm Sandy and then moved on to the stump speech that anyone who has attended more than one rally knows so well - the five-point plan, the anecdote about the US flag rescued from the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the dully-delivered homilies about the need for change.