Here's a spontaneous quip I wrote earlier – PM's notes reveal all

Published on Friday 23 April 2010 23:27

GORDON BROWN'S seemingly off-the-cuff remark in the Thursday party leaders' debate about boys squabbling in the bath was anything but.

The one-liner turns out to have been part of a series of prepared quips for use throughout the debate.

A close-up of his notes captured by a photographer reveals a number of ideas, some of which he used and others that were rejected:

&#149 "Future": the first thing written on the page, and a key message in the Labour campaign. Mr Brown will have been keen to emphasise his plans for the next few years.

&#149 "The issue isn't old versus new, it's right versus wrong, fair versus unfair": Unused by Mr Brown, it appears designed to spike Nick Clegg's claims to being the "new" politician.

&#149 "You're offering slogans not solutions": An unused, somewhat ironic statement, given that it appears in a list of slogans. This seems designed to attack David Cameron for being more spin than substance.

&#149 "Oh boy, the Iranians are going to love you, Nick": Mr Brown was desperate to paint Mr Clegg as a risk to the UK's security because of his policy on Trident. This jibe was unused – possibly because it's hard to imagine any of the leaders using the phrase "Oh boy".

&#149 "You can phone a friend, you can ask the audience, you can go 50-50 with Nick": This reference to Who Wants to be a Millionaire wasn't deployed, but appears designed to paint Mr Clegg as unsure or confused on a particular policy.

&#149 "They remind me of my two boys squabbling at bath time": Mr Brown used this as his opponents clashed on Europe, echoing a successful attack by Mr Clegg in the first debate.

&#149 "David, you're a risk to the economy. Nick, you're a risk to our security": Deployed by Mr Brown as the debate drew to a close, the pithy phrase was designed to encapsulate Labour's main lines of attack.

&#149 "Hands": This scrawled note may have been written to remind Mr Brown to emote using his hands, or it may have been designed to stop him using his hands quite so much.

&#149 "Mary": Echoing a tactic used well by Nick Clegg in the first debate, Mr Brown noted the name of a questioner to help him connect with the public. In case he forgot to do so, a note – "questioner" – at the top of the page, gave him a cue.