A FEW years ago I made a speech in a church in my constituency; the general theme was the importance of the role of older people in society, but I took the opportunity to talk more widely about the benefits culture and to bemoan (not for the first time, and certainly not the last) the levels of incapacity benefit claimants in Glasgow.

My comments were well received and afterwards I was circulating during the tea and scones before heading off to my next appointment. A woman who reminded me of my father’s saying – “I wouldn’t go home to her with a broken pay packet” – approached me and said that her husband was claiming incapacity benefit and that she found my comments offensive.

“Well, you have every right to feel offended,” I replied.

What else could I say? I wasn’t going to apologise for saying what I felt was the truth. I had already, in my original comments, made all the obligatory qualifications one has to when talking about this subject. Politics – real, important politics – should be challenging and occasionally that means they will be offensive to certain individuals and groups of people. Cosy, comfortable, inoffensive politics are of no interest to anyone other than LibDems.

And as I’ve written here before, being offended is hardly the worst experience you can suffer.

So I was delighted to read this very sensible offering today from Shazia Mirza, who says what I’m trying to say here but better and, well, less offensively.