Iain Duncan Smith, the frequent loser of the televised Prime Minister's Questions has been found to be consistently undermined by his own coughing. Conservatives accuse him of cheating them out of a positive image and are denying him the top prize of being the party leader at the next election.

Earlier in the month Mr Duncan Smith was asked, "Is your standing among your colleagues (a) Zero, (b) Nothing, (c) Nil, or (d) Zilch?" Instead of answering he started laughing in throaty kind of way, which undermined his position even further.

His trials continue.