Spinners unspun are not much fun

Now here comes the hospital courtesy of PF2 - a private finance scheme that's a little less, well, private.

The old system gave us schools, hospitals and more but came with a pretty hefty mortgage in terms of long term, regular payments from the public purse.

The new arrangement is meant to be smaller and simpler.

But while it's all been drawn up, the long wait for the super hospital in Smethwick went on. And on.

And it's not over.

It's still subject to a business case being approved and there won't even be spades in the ground before 2016.

What it does give the Chancellor, and the Tory party for that matter, is something to talk about in the run up to the General Election.

The announcement was made at Rowley Regis Hospital, which we are told is going to play a greater role once the new acute hospital a few miles away is up and running.

It could have been made at Sandwell General or City Hospitals instead, I suppose.

But then they're in safe Labour seats whereas Rowley Regis is in a key marginal battleground that the Tories have to hold on to.

I'm sure that's not the reason for doing it there, though.

Talking of George Osborne, here's a little insight into what goes on in the run up to getting an interview.

These days, whenever any prominent politician from any party comes to town, the spin doctors like to gather reporters in a little room and keep them as far away from the action as possible.

At some point during the visit the politician is brought in to see the waiting media who are allowed to ask one, or maybe two, questions each.

Before they arrive, a spin doctor asks the reporters if they can 'maybe agree on who is going to ask what so there's no doubling up'.

They then ask to know exactly what questions we are going to give the politician so they can go and prepare them.

Part of me thinks it's good that if you're asking about a very local matter it's helpful if the politician knows the background to give an informed response.

But the other part of me thinks it's a damned liberty. A radio reporter said she wanted to ask a question about food banks.

The Treasury spokesman came back to say she would not be getting an answer to that so the question was never even put.

And yet most high ranking politicians past and present, with the exception perhaps of grumpy Gordon Brown, are fairly adept at dealing with the curve ball question. I'm sure Mr Osborne would have coped and I've no idea if he was ever even told the question might be coming.

Michael Gove, long before his unceremonious dumping as Education Secretary, had not been briefed for a question in Wolverhampton about the alleged rift between the Tories and Lib Dems over free school meals.

And yet he answered quickly, confidently and professionally.

His furious spin doctors, on the other hand, took me on one side and hissed that I was 'not to use' that answer. It wasn't Malcolm Tucker from the Thick Of It, but neither was it all charm and smarm.

If the Tories or Labour really want to get their messages out in the run up to the election, they could start by telling the spinners not to get so wound up.