Vain? Moi?

I know it's inevitable that having a by-lined column in a national paper (even one as shoddy as the Express) is bound to have a massaging effect on the ego. But this piece from Frederick Forsyth -- where our fearless correspondent is heroically trying to give up smoking -- is still a pretty jaw-dropping piece of self-aggrandisement:

"After a second session, he stood in the door with me once again. "I suspect that when you get round the corner of the street you'll light up again, " he said. I had to concur.
"I'm not surprised, " he observed.
"I can tell the type. Only about one in 500, thank heaven. It's not about nicotine any more. It's because everyone is on at you. You simply will not be told what to do. But if ever this country was invaded and occupied, you'd be the leader of the Resistance." As I had a smoke in the car on the way home, I thought that was probably the nicest compliment I'd ever been paid.
Now you know why I can't stand Blair's Britain. Too many blasted collaborators. "