Trying not to speak...

It’s not surprising that Margaret Beckett didn’t have huge influence over the decision to go to war in Iraq, given that she was only Environment Secretary at the time.

None the less, one answer she gave to the Chilcot Inquiry was particularly amusing.

She was asked what she'd said in meetings leading up to the decision to go to war.

Her answer was: “I don’t remember…how much I exactly said. I’m sure there were times when I did contribute.

“I tried to not repeat something that someone else had already said.

“I tried to not take up the time of the cabinet by repeating some contributions that someone else had made or by making obvious statements that were self evident.”

Basically – she didn’t say much. There is however a slightly darker side to her comments.

Yes, she’s admitting she was not a huge contributor, but is she also saying that the contributions of others were pointless – that people sat around repeating each other and stating the obvious in an attempt to make it look like they were useful.

We’ve all seen that sort of thing happen in meetings between a group of employees and the boss. You’d just hope the people running the country were more robust with one another.