Thanks to Stuart at Feeling Listless for putting me onto this interview by Eddie Mair with former defence secretary John Hutton.

I heard the start of PM in which they trailed the fact he would be admitting to something, but missed the interview, so thanks for reminding me Stuart.

As has been pointed out this is a masterful interview by Mair in which he gently coaxes Hutton into admitting that he previously said that he thought Gordon Brown would be an "f***ing disaster" as Prime Minister.

The interview starts at the 16.18 minute marker and the conversation that leads to the admission starts at 24.12 point in the programme.

I suspect that an aggressive interview style might not have got as much out of Hutton. I always been of the view that you get more out of interviewees if you adopt a friendly style.

Anyway, if you've got time do listen to the whole of the interview, which is also wonderfully dissected by Nick Robinson HERE.