Ministers had to deny that the decision to hold today's Cabinet meeting in Birmingham -- the first time it has been held outside London or Chequers since 1921 - was a "gimmick". George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, said a day trip outside London would not solve Britain's economic problems.
But I have some ammunition for ministers: at least they also met some "real" people on their awayday to the West Midlands, touring factories, hospitals and meeting charities and community groups. In contrast, David Cameron also took the train to Birmingham today, bumping in to the Cabinet minister James Purnell and Gordon Brown's chief strategist Stephen Carter on the way up and travelling in the next carriage to Brown on the return journey to London. But why was the Tory leader heading for Brum? The answer is... in order to be interviewed by the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson for a Panorama programme to run during the Tory conference. Surely Cameron slotted it at least one meeting with the public in Birmingham after going all that way? Er... no, the Tories admit. One for Brown's "style not substance" file, I think.
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