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When does an elderly lady become terrifying?

When you are a politician seemingly out of your political depth and your brief exchange with said lady makes front page news.

Does this happen often?

It has just happened to Andrew Lansley. The Health Secretary was harangued at length by a pensioner as he tried to push past protestors leading The Times to dub yesterday a 'day of PR disasters for Government'.

What was said exactly?

June Hautot, 75, told the Health Secretary: 'You can wait, like the people who are waiting for a bed right now', before accusing him of privatising the NHS. 'I'm not privatising,' he retorted.

Ouch. Then what?

'Don't you dare lie to me,' added the unrelenting pensioner.

Well it could be worse.

It most certainly could. Who could forget former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's brush with 65-year old pensioner Gillian Duffy?

Not quite the same though was it?

No it wasn't. Duffy put her points to Brown who appeared to listen sympathetically before climbing into a car still and describing her as a 'bigoted woman' while still miked up.

But Duffy didn't stop there did she?

She certainly did not. A year later she preyed on deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, in what the Daily Mail called a 'pre-planned ambush'.

Sounds mildly sinister.  

Duffy, herself a longstanding Labour supporter, was flanked by three Labour officials the Mail report said, when she apparently tried to 'handbag' Clegg.

That's a new verb on me.

Yep and me. But that didn't make it any less awkward for Clegg, as she went on to ask him: 'Can you look me in the eye and tell me you're happy?'

And could he?

Not sure. But Duffy then appeared to body-check Clegg forcing him to explain himself and outmanoeuvring him long enough for a nearby paparazzo to get some close-ups of the exchange.

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