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Douglas arrived at HQ very agitated about it. ‘I can’t believe Ed Miliband,’ he complained. ‘You’d imagine that after ten years of waiting for this, and ten years complaining about Tony, we would have some idea of what we are going to do but we don’t seem to have any policies. For God’s sake, Harriet’s helping write the manifesto!’It was the first serious indication of a recurrent theme of Gordon’s premiership – everyone around him thought there was some big plan  sitting in a bottom drawer somewhere, just ready to be pulled out when the moment came. In fact, there was nothing.

I believe the business of government should be more business-like – that the British people are the boss and like any employer they deserve to know about the performance of their team. And so I am proposing the following.Firstly, Sir Tim Berners Lee, the man most associated with the invention of the internet, is the government’s advisor on data openness and transparency all across the internet. In the months to come he will be ensuring that there is the maximum possible information available to the public at all times. This rapid extension of transparency will show in real time how government are delivering against our pledges.Secondly, I will set out a clear and public annual contract for each new Cabinet Minister, detailing what I expect them and their department to deliver to the British people, and that their continued appointment is dependent on their delivery just as it would be in a business or any other organisation. Thirdly, I will require the Cabinet Secretary to performance manage the Permanent Secretary of each department against their delivery of pledges and other priorities as set out in the letter of appointment.

Moving on to Iraq, did he ever feel like resigning over it? "No... It wasn't weapons of mass destruction or the issue about regime change that was important to me. To me, the important thing was, if you are creating a global community - which is what we are trying to do after the Cold War - you cannot have countries that persistently defy the international community by refusing to abide by their obligations."

"I understand the anger over Iraq, I do - because people feel that they were given information that turned out not to be correct.