Believe it or not, parliamentary committee meetings are not always enthralling. But when dealing with the less riveting matters that must fall under parliamentary scrutiny, such as a recent Justice Committee session on the appointment of a new chief of HM CPS Inspectorate, at least MPs occasionally make an effort to add a little colour to the proceedings. Obiter stumbled across this bizarre exchange between Stephen Wooler, the outgoing Inspectorate chief, and Andrew Tyrie MP, Conservative MP for Chichester, who seemed determined to make a joke, and nearly managed it.

Tyrie: Do you think that they [the CPS] are responsive to that sort of criticism? How sensitive are they in the spectrum from very thin-skinned all the way through to rhinoceros? Where do you put them on the spectrum?

Wooler: ‘… They do react, but quite slowly…’

Tyrie: ‘So they feel the pain but they do not react quickly?’

Wooler: ‘They do not react quickly, no.’

Tyrie: ‘I am trying to think what creature has that particular characteristic. I am told on my right that it must be a dinosaur, but I am afraid I certainly could not speak from personal experience to confirm that.’