Harman's gaffe makes Brown PM

Harman said she meant to say Blair and Brown were a good team

Minister Harriet Harman has laughed off her blushes after calling Chancellor Gordon Brown the prime minister.

The slip came as Ms Harman spoke on BBC One's Question Time about the Budget.

She began her answer: "Since Gordon Brown became prime minister..." before hiding her face amid hysterical laughter from her fellow panellists.

The minister explained: "I was just thinking about the prime minister and the chancellor at the same time and I conflated it."

Ms Harman, who is the solicitor general, added: "I was going to say that he and the prime minister have been a hugely important and successful team running the country and the economy."

Her gaffe caused huge applause and whoops from the studio audience, with presenter David Dimbleby joking: "The Freudian slip shows where your heart really lies, doesn't it?"