Geoffrey Heathcote, Member of Parliament, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, brushed a speck of lint from his suit and pushed open the doors of the BBC’s Wogan House.

The interview had gone jolly well. The host of Radio 2’s lunchtime news programme had allowed him to explain his point of view and chastised that lefty lunatic Carmina Amcott for her interruptions more than once. God knows which hole in the ground she’d crawled out of. Bloody rent-a-gob. At least he’d been articulate and well informed.

‘Of course offenders, particularly juvenile ones, should be allowed an opportunity for rehabilitation,’ he’d said. ‘But we can’t deny we’re seeing increasing numbers of young people committing violent crimes. Take knife attacks. It’s like a disease. We can’t just ignore it. That’s why we’re introducing tougher sanctions within the prison system. Discipline and deterrents are important. We have to make sure young offenders don’t want to find themselves back in our institutions, that they don’t get too comfortable. Our role is to rehabilitate them so they can return to society as decent human—’

‘But surely, Mr Heathcote, treating them as adults is not the answer,’ she had shot back. ‘Some of them are still children. Solitary confinement, inability to deal adequately with mental health issues, drug abuse, violence, neglect, loneliness, the list goes on. Don’t you think the Prison Service should be tackling its inherent problems first? Or move towards a system of community-based care, tailored to the individual, so they can remain with their families or support networks like church or school?’

‘But that’s exactly what we are doing, Ms Amcott,’ he’d said, smooth as a knife through butter. ‘We want to steer the young people of this country on the right course. Everybody needs a second chance and that’s what rehabilitation is. Repeat offenders are becoming a drain on the taxpayer. But we need to ensure the prospect of prison is a deterrent itself.’

He permitted himself a self-satisfied smile. Carmina Amcott had left the studio as soon as they had gone off-air. She was in a hurry, she’d insisted to the producer, but he suspected she hadn’t enjoyed being bested on live radio in front of seven million listeners. As for him, he was happy to linger for a couple of minutes. He could relax now it was over.

The presenter – a decent chap he’d known since their days at Eton – put on ‘Chain Gang’ by Sam Cooke, took off his headphones and sipped his coffee.

‘Bravo, Geoffrey. You came across as measured and reasonable.’

Heathcote grinned. ‘Thanks for having me on the show. I rather enjoyed it.’

‘Getting a bit of flak at the moment?’

The politician took a cloth from his pocket and polished his glasses. ‘I’m used to it. Part of the job.’

‘Tell me about it. Doesn’t mean we have to like it, though.’