Are you Mandy? I'm not saying that I'm not.

Mandelson made very innovative use of the word “spatchcocked” in his briefing yesterday while describing Tory policy on regional development agencies (RDAs).

We're still discussing here exactly what it meant.

My favourite word however was “dissembling”, simply because of the to and fro of the briefing that surrounded it.

The Tories say RDAs are bloated, need to be changed and made more efficient.

Meanwhile Labour says RDAs are great as they are and that the Tories actually plan to “scrap” them, but are being disingenuous about it.

A hack put the initial question to Mandy.

“Lord Mandelson, are you accusing the Conservative party of lying?”

“I’m accusing them of dissembling.”

“What does that mean in English?”

“I’m accusing them of creating a different impression from the policy which they would peruse if elected.”

“So that means lying.”

“They’re frightened.”

“Does that mean lying?”

“They know they’re in the wrong place on regional business support and investment, they know they’re at odds with local business opinion. They have put themselves on this hook of abolishing the RDAs without thinking through the consequences for the regions.”

The literal definition of dissembling is the 'creation or adoption of a false appearance in order to conceal facts, feelings, or intentions'.

Or in a word, lying.