Few politicians who have not been prime minister can match the historical significance and esteem of Lord Heseltine – so it was a privilege to have interviewed him this week.

In the week the coalition decided to celebrate the start of 2013 by simply listing everything it had done over the past two years, it became rapidly apparent the Tory grandee was firmly of the opinion that was just not enough. Or, at least, that the coalition's perceived successes had not come quickly enough.