Unlike his predecessor, the Lord Chancellor - sorry, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs - is a man with a public sense of humour. Last week, Lord Falconer was speaking at the China Law Council welcome bash for a group of Chinese lawyers participating in the annual training scheme - sponsored by the Law Society and the Bar Council - that bases them at City law firms and London commercial chambers for a year. (Interestingly, for a foreign audience, he is very much the Lord Chancellor, with no mention of the modern title.) Lord Falconer made wry reference to the group's visit that day to the House of Commons, which coincided with the hunt lobby protest. 'You have seen how our Parliament works,' quipped the man who aims to consign the woolsack to history. Lord Falconer then set UK tongues wagging when he waxed lyrical about his desire to travel east - 'I am very, very keen to go to China,' he said in an almost sombre tone. A hint at his view of Labour's spring election fortunes? Or a forecast of the success of his constitutional reforms?