He commented at the weekend that it was "not surprising" that he was unpopular, but George Osborne still probably wasn't expecting to be greeted by a chorus of boos when he presented the medals for the men's 400m at the Paralympic Games. His initial laughter soon gave way to a grimace as his hopes of ever leading the Conservatives disappeared (parties don't elect people who are booed in public).

By contrast, Gordon Brown was greeted with cheers [2] when he arrived at the Aquatic Centre earlier today, while Osborne's future rival for the Conservative leadership, Boris Johnson, received the warmest welcome [3] of all at the Olympic closing ceremony.

I suspect some Tories will try to make a virtue of Osborne's reception, arguing that it demonstrates his ability to take "tough decisions". But they'd be wrong to. There's a difference between decisions that are seen as "tough" but fair ("it's hurting but it's working"), and those that, in addition to being seen as tough, are also seen as wrong.

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