What was going through chief whip Nick Brown's mind today as he got the giggles at question time, which pitted Harriet Harman against William Hague because the PM was in the US?
Nick Brown was unable to hold back guffaws, bouncing up and down on his seat, after Hague poked fun at Harriet's supposed leadership ambitions, suggesting she ought to imitate Winston Churchill, who stepped in when Chamberlain had lost the confidence of the country.
Other cabinet ministers tried to keep straight faces and most managed it.
Alistair Darling did best, his features remaining solid as Scottish granite. Jack Straw was pretty inscrutable too. David Miliband (is he thinking leadership again, everybody wondered?) grinned a bit. But Brown, whose job is to be keeper of party discipline and discretion, could not hold himself back. Up and down he went at the end of the front row as the Tories hooted with laughter.
Such a response is not normal for the holder of this office.
Was it the comparison to Churchill that triggered the giggles? Or just the idea of Harriet in charge?
Whatever, there was a sense of the mice at play while the cat was away addressing Congress.
And that does not bode well for the other Brown when he gets back.
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