Careless talk

It showed, what many have long suspected, that the Prime Minister's moral compass is not working. Just minutes after dealing with a set of innocuous questions from Mrs Duffy, 66, and saying how "very good" it had been to meet her, he was caught saying the exact opposite. He

praised her in public and belittled her in private.

While politicians have no doubt used far worse language about voters in the past, this shambolic episode gives more ammunition to those who accuse Mr Brown of saying one thing and doing another.

What we saw yesterday wasn't the altruistic Prime Minister of Labour propaganda, or even the dithering one of Conservative claims, but the one often spotted by the electorate: a man of ingrained character flaws who is easily irritated by those possessing different views to his.

It could prove to be particularly toxic for Mr Brown at the ballot box. Having spent the first few weeks of the campaign meeting no-one but grinning Labour lackeys, he failed on almost his first meeting with a disgruntled party supporter and then, incredibly, tried to blame one of his own aides.

Mr Brown was right to apologise quickly to Mrs Duffy but the damage had been done and will live long in the memory. It wasn't comparable to Neil Kinnock falling over on Brighton beach in 1983, in fact it was worse. One looks like bad luck; the other like bad character.