Brown's Brave Boys (and Girls)

In his excellent diary, Ian Dale reports that he has heard that over 20 Cabinet Ministers were invited to appear on Question Time this evening (not all at once, I hope) and they declined.

I wonder if the Prince of Darkness has decreed that they are only to speak in the benign environments of Westminster and the media, away from the rough and licentious peasantry.

Or could it be that the Rt Hon Members actually realise that the line they are being instructed to take is so transparently false that when they espouse it before the public, they are likely to be ripped to shreds. On the evidence of the last three editions of Question Time, I suspect this to be the case.

Due perhaps to her stunning lack of any contrition over her expenses, Margaret Beckett was reduced by the audience to a caricature of a rabbit in a lamp's beam just before the trigger is pulled - and this is an individual hotly tipped to become Speaker. Lord help us if she was to face a turbulent day in the Commons.

Ms Flint, in an unedifying swansong as Europe Minister, resorted to bullying interuptions of other panelists in an attempt to dominate the programme. Eventually, the penny began to drop as the audience refused to accept her gospel, and her face became a pleasing vision of sulky, incomprehending anger.

Last week, Peter Hain was reduced to a gibbering poltroon, his face radiating confusion. His gem moment came when Tsar Alan's possible conflict of interest was being debated. Suggesting that other politicians' TV work created a precedent for the Tsar, he cited Michael Portillo who, of course, left Parliament in 2005. Peter needs a long lie down.

So we will have the charming and suave Lord Falconer on the programme tonight as it is little wonder that the Cabinet prefer hiding in Brown's Mitty-world bunker. The reality of public opinion would be too much for what little remains of their sanity to bear.

Still, things can only get better.