What had been a trying morning for Nick Clegg became tougher still when Gordon Brown’s old tormentor, Mrs Duffy, confronted the Deputy Prime Minister during a trip to Rochdale.
Clegg turned on the charm, referring to her throughout as “Gillian”, but the redoubtable Duffy wasn’t impressed. “Liberal policies were a lot like Labour policies years and years ago,” she noted astutely. Still, after his recent on-mike gaffe, Clegg will be grateful that there was no repeat today.