It has long been the case that politicians do not answer questions on the Today programme in spite of being hounded by the interviewers. Mostly they answer another question of their own choosing.

Has anybody heard anything to approach Jack Straw this morning? Poor Jack Straw ahd obviously not brought his own question with him. He floundered. He did a John Prescott without the bravado and gusto.

I particularly liked it when he said, more or less out of the blue "It is is now ten hours since I said we should reflect on it" (the French Non). That's all. Nothing else. What did it mean apart from giving us a time check?