The leeches

"I see the leeches are here," sneered Sheffield MP Richard Caborn, as he strutted passed your correspondent.

Being a macho man Caborn would have had no problems pushing the door open if the room was packed like before.

In truth, no-one expected this meeting to be as dramatic as last time or for Gordon to have any real problems. Why? "Because of Geoff Hoon's incompetence," one Labour MP suggested to me afterwards.

Oddly enough, the same answer was once offered to me on an entirely different subject. On this occasion however, while it seemed fair, it was not altogether accurate.

Click to read the Evening Post parliamentary correspondent's column.