Gordon Brown was embarrassed yesterday when his mobile phone went off during a Davos press conference, but at least he was able to laugh it off. Less humorous and more humiliating is the interruption of the prime minister's stern anti-protectionist stance by refinery employees, wielding his 2007 "British jobs for British workers" pledge against foreign workers.

Rarely can a soundbite have bitten back so ferociously. At the time, the promise was denounced by political opponents as "dog-whistle" politics, heard only by the constituency to which it appeals. But let's face it, it was more a full-throated yell to the UK's xenophobes. As the recession deepens, this ill-judged promise will be invoked more and more, alongside injunctions to consumers to " Buy British " and banks to " Lend British ".