Mr Brown - " I am shocked, shocked !"

"I am sorry about what happened."

"I have said all along that when I saw this first I was horrified, I was shocked, I was very angry indeed."

"I think the most important thing is to reassure people that everything is being done to clean up politics in this country."

"I wrote to those people who were affected by it. I expressed very deep regret for what happened."

"The person who was responsible went immediately and has lost his job. And I have ensured that there are new rules so that this cannot happen again."

There are those cynics amongst us - yes indeed, cynicism survives even yet dear reader. There are some who reading the above might feel that the Prime Minister was merely sorry Mr McBryde was caught in flagrante delicto.

Anybody remember that pussy cat Bernard Ingham ? John Biffen was unnatributably described as a "semi-detached" member of the Government. Sure enough, Biffen was dropped at the next reshuffle.

Then, bluff Yorkshire "fowk" have a monopoly on unctuous humbuggary.