Nick turns the Commons blue

An unfortunate moment today for the well-liked police minister Nick Herbert.

Home office questions was not going well - there had been some confusion about which minister was going to answer question 7.

In the end Herbert was handed a piece of paper by Theresa May, and struggled to the dispatch box.

He was almost finished when he had a helpful intervention from the Speaker - was not question 8 to be answered with question 7?

An embarassed Herbert said it was and promptly sat down.

A few moments later he was bent forward gathering up pages of briefing notes.

Then he rose again to answer, and in trying to pronounce the word 'cuts' he inserted an 'n' that changed its meaning.

There was a gasp from the press gallery, a giggle from the opposition and Herbert pressed on as if nothing had happened.

Mr Speaker told the House they must have misheard the minister, and things moved on to police commissioners.

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