Hutton confesses

Which British Cabinet minister said Gordon Brown would be a "f***ing disaster" as Prime Minister before he had even stepped into 10 Downing St?

John Hutton, a former Defence Secretary, made the notoriously unflattering prediction in 2006.

He was widely suspected of being the source of the comment, given to the BBC, but always met the accusation with a stony silence.

Yesterday he owned up: "I did say it. Yes, I did. Yeah. Let's just get that over with."