I hope that Chris Patten will change all that. And I believe he might.
As some of you may know, it was my Party who defeated him in Bath - and I am not at all sorry about that.
But Bath's gain is probably Hong Kong's gain, too.
Chris Patten has made a very good start even if this has been the easy bit. Any competent politician can do a good job at glad handing. His test will be, not how popular he is able to make himself in Hong Kong, but how effective he is in standing up to Peking.
Governor Patten is a gifted man who enjoys a direct line into Downing Street. His duty now is to put both of these at the exclusive service of Hong Kong. I am confident that if he does that, then Hong Kong will be well served and the last years of British rule may just redeem the failings of the few years we have just had.
So here are some thoughts for him as he prepares for his crucial 7 October speech.
Hong Kong stands like a Shan dynasty Ding, on three legs.
Its relations with China, its prosperity and its freedom.
Take any one of the legs away and the vessel falls over.
In Hong Kong's case, each leg is dependant on the others. Without good relations with China, there cannot be prosperity. Without prosperity, there will be no incentive for the Chinese to tolerate freedom after 1997. And without freedom, there will be no way the people or the capital that make Hong Kong prosperous will stay here.
These are the three essential ingredients of Hong Kong and, whatever else happens, they must be preserved. Other matters may be important. But these are essential.
Let me give you a topical example. A new airport is very important for Hong Kong perhaps even critical.
But, take away the prospect of an airport after 1997 and Hong Kong can still prosper. Take away the prospect of freedom after 1997 and it cannot. London, especially please note sacrificing an opportunity to deepen the roots of Hong Kong's limited democracy in order to obtain concessions for the airport, is not a barter we should be involved in.
Here are two other principles which ought to weigh substantially in Governor Patten's calculations.
The first will not necessarily please my liberal colleagues. But like it or not, it is a reality and at this moment Hong Kong must learn to live strictly on realities, not on dreams.
And the reality is that there is no mileage for Hong Kong in straying outside the limits set by the Joint Declaration or away