"Gordon," the First Secretary replied in his silky smooth voice, "you will find that there are briefings, there are leaks, and then there is seepage.
There had been briefings about how Britain would play a key role in eliminating the jihadist leadership.
And one of the remarkable aspects of the last five years of the Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition is that leaks have been relatively rare – even if there have been briefings and counter briefings, some licensed and some less so.
Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi and the minority leader, said after the White House meeting, "There will be briefings from appropriate personnel about what has been going on, how we've done in the operations that have been under way".
First there were the briefings and the counter-briefings by the unelected spin doctors.
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have amended the way stewards are briefed since sexist incidents at matches involving Chelsea this season, and at Wembley for the Capital One Cup final there were lengthy briefings about all forms of discrimination before the match.
There were routine briefings with the very top people, the Secretary of Defense among them.
Susan Rice, the national-security adviser, argued on CNN, that there were general briefings "when we had past potential to have this kind of arrangement".
There were also briefings to prepare for my boss before debates, and speeches and I'll never forget how it felt to hear the words I'd written spoken out loud in the House of Commons!
In the first quarter of 2012 there were 88 briefings, 265 portfolio presentations and 1,625 introductions.
