James er, errr, um Purnell

Noticeable discomfort clinched James “future leader” Purnell at breakfast this morning robbing him of his usual ease.

A hack asked the Pensions Secretary about what he thought of the whole “Government apologising for the recession debate”. His answer ad verbatim:

No, I mean – I think everybody agrees that, you know, we’ve, er, erm, made clear that, er, we accept responsibility of Government aaaand, er, no-one would claim that, er, everything that was done was erm, er, er, was, er, y’know, with hindsight, er, erm, always absolutely right.

But I would also think Gordon is absolutely right, err, to say that he’s been, erm, arguing at international level for the kinds of errr, financial and regulatory changes which are now right at the top of the agenda for the world.

So I think, you know, it’s er, it’s er, er, er it’s a, um, something which, um, er, people look at.

The way that, erm, er, Gordon and Alistair have, er, responded and I think the, er, the economic, um, and financial policy that they have pursued, eeeer, is, er, absolutely the right one and is leading the world in terms of its response to something which is completely unique, a unique challenge.

So I think Gordon and Alistair’s, er, position is, er, is absolutely world leading in terms of dealing with this and people, you know, many people who are, erm, economists and businessmen have, er, have said that they do look to the UK’s response on this.

Gordon and Alistair will no doubt be reassured.