IT IS Winnie the Pooh’s fault. The cult of sentimentality inspired by the bear of little brain is a threat to an important military tradition: the bearskin, as worn by the Brigade of Guards. A Labour MP, Chris Mullin, is leading a campaign to force the Guards to use artificial fabric.

He claims that the bearskin has no military value. That is nonsense. Anyone who talks to senior officers will rapidly become aware of a recurring preoccupation: how to ensure that men stand and fight. History is full of examples of small units fighting well above their weight, whose heroism turned battles. Our generals want to ensure that British troops always fight like that, not like the French in 1940. That is why our Army gives so much thought to training, discipline, morale and esprit de corps.

The drill and discipline of British Guards regiments arouse awe and admiration throughout the military world, and all aspects of that drill contribute to creating first-class soldiers. Thoughtless tourists — and MPs — see the ceremonial and wonder what it has to do with modern soldiering. The generals could tell them that the man who is best on Horse Guards is also the man who shines in the marksmanship competitions and the man who is outstanding in combat.

A soldier who joins the Guards rapidly learns that on ceremonial duty only perfection will do. But the man who can carry out a complex manoeuvre with such exactitude in front of his sovereign is a soldier whose bonding with his colleagues and pride in belonging to a great regiment will inspire him forward under fire into danger.

The bearskin is part of that bonding and pride. Of course the regiments would survive a ban, but it would help to convince the soldiers that the politicians neither understand them nor respect them. They already have to cope with being underpaid and overstretched. If, on top of that, their traditions are treated with contempt, morale will suffer, as will recruitment and retention.

Throughout North America, bears are numerous. They raid dustbins and put picnickers to flight. Their numbers have to be controlled. Bearskins are made from the pelts of animals that would be culled anyway. Instead of being discarded, the fur is used to enhance the excellence of our finest soldiers. That is a point that only a politician of very little brain could fail to appreciate.