Sketch: A minister's toughest audience... toddlers Mr Duncan Smith made his announcement at a nursery, or Early Childhood Centre, in south-east London. It looked a suitable area, but one drawback with nurseries, or Early Childhood Centres, is that they tend to contain children. As a result, numerous members of Mr Duncan Smith's audience were under the age of four. And, as such audiences often will, they proved to be somewhat vocal. Thus the Secretary of State's serious and heartfelt speech was punctuated by heckles such as "Doh!," "Mooo!" and "Uuuurgh!" "The disproportionate focus on income," Mr Duncan Smith said gravely, "does little to reflect the experience of those trapped in poverty." "No, no, NO!" cried a small boy. A closer look will show that real incomes did not rise. "It may seem strange, a politician coming here to say, "I'm not going to claim a massive success for something'." Harnessing the expertise of local organisations, charities and... The poor man. Trying to give an important speech while his audience sat drooling, groaning and burbling nonsense. He must have felt as if he was at party conference. Still, throughout the atonal chorus of wails and squeals, he soldiered on. Politely, the Quiet Man resisted any impulse he may have felt to turn up the volume. From time to time, parents hissed, "Ssshhh!" I'm almost certain it was the children they were trying to silence.