No sympathy for Chloe Smith - defending the indefensible is pretty much par for the course if you decide to become a Tory.

But I do wish someone would have the cojones to stand up to Paxman - just simply went for it, launching a stream of invective and calling him out for his bullying attitude. I'm sure all the media trainers advise caution, but why the heck shouldn't you let rip if he's being a complete 'reproductive tool'.

Same goes for John Humphrys.

I really think there's a total misperception here, a sort of variation on the emperor's new clothes -- everyone agrees this is what they saw, but it's not what happened. I even wrote to the MP telling her that although I was no Tory supporter, I couldn't let it go without trying to put an alternative view.

I have never thought that Paxman's style got us any serious truth -- maybe good studio drama (if people like that sort of rude, arrogant, narcissistic bullying), but what did his interview with Howard ever do for penal reform, or reduction of the crime rate? In the interview with Smith he showed his worst traits, and I thought there was more than a suggestion of misogyny into the bargain.

I really couldn't help thinking that under the circumstances Chloe Smith stood up to the pompous twerp really extraordinarily well, wasn't intimidated by his best efforts to intimidate her and all in all held her own astonishingly well.

What remains true of course is that Osborne showed a contemptible lack of male virtue and courage in not going into the den himself, but that’s a different matter.

I wrote to Ms Smith: "Far from this being a possible career-damaging event for you, I am really persuaded by your performance that you showed very considerable ministerial potential, and I’m sure you’re going to grow into this role tremendously (hope that doesn’t sound patronising, it’s not meant to be)."

If we write her off, we'll do so at our peril, and she could yet prove to be a quite formidable opponent.

On whether Paxman was harsh or not: probably not overall, but that closing "Do you ever think you're incompetent"? was the worst kind of interview bullying. Left a nasty taste in the mouth, particularly when it was so obvious that she'd been specifically told not to answer the very questions he was asking.

It was so embarrassing it was cringe making. It wasnt as if Paxman - for whom I have only limited time - was being particularly brutal (certainly not the encounter Michael White claimed in a astonishing stupid article in the Guardian today where he claimed she pulled of a creditable performance in the face of Paxo's bullying). She was so out of her depth. She was plain awful.

Paxman was right - this is some kind of joke. Chloe Smith was shambolic and incompetent, but at least she's got youth and inexperience as an excuse. Osborne is a coward, pure and simple. What's his excuse?

Talk about rearranging the economic deckchairs.

Paxo is spot on - how can you say you're reducing the deficit if you're using up money that has apparently accrued due to some mythical "underspend". I don't believe that so-called "underspend" is an underspend as such. It's the money saved after inflicting savage cuts isn't it? - did I not hear the public health sector mentioned as one of the sources of the "underspend"?

I dunno. All this robbing Peter to pay Paul so that Cameron's Cronies don't lose a penny of their squillions tucked away in little sunlit hideaways ...

Just as well that we see the idiots we vote for. She was a complete chump last night.

She had a similarly disastrous outing earlier in the evening on C4 News facing the same questions so it's not s if she dodn't have time to work on her story.

Smith is an example of what happens when you appoint people based on their reproductive equipment rather than talent. You get crap. Thing is if the left had their way politics would be dominated by incompetent women like Smith.

Paxman who is normally useless, tore her to bits to start with and the rather like beating a puppy felt sorry at the end for what he'd done.

Osborne is a master at sending underlings in to take the fire - rather than Brown.