Let them speak without interrupting? Whatever next!

Something unusual enough to be worth remarking on is when a politician is expressing strong views about his treatment by the BBC - not in condemnation but in praise of it.

The unusual tribute is from the Health Secretary, John Reid, who has been telling his colleagues that the way his five-year health plan was covered on The Daily Politics, the day-time programme fronted by Andrew Neil and Daisy Sampson, should be a model for others to follow.

Before Conservative Central Office or Liberal Democrat headquarters slap in a complaint of bias, they should know that they will get their chance of the same treatment in due course. What the programme did was invite Mr Reid on to give a talk lasting up to four minutes, using blackboard-style graphics. Only after he had finished was he put through the standard grilling by Neil, with emailed questions from viewers.

The programme's editor, Jamie Donald, explained: "We were having a brainstorming session, looking for formats that would help us get policy ideas across to the viewers in the run-up to the general election. We had watched a presentation that Tony Blair gave in Downing Street, where over his shoulder was a dense bullet-point graphic that he obviously thought was state of the art. Our people just laughed at it.

"So we decided to see if we could do something better - to see if we can get major politicians to come on and give a presentation that we'll design for them. We were very pleased with it. We know that Reid's people were pleased with it too. People told us in emails that they found it refreshing and clear. But I don't think it has been tried often enough to know how well it will work long term."

John Reid's people contrast this with the rough handling he received when he tried to present the same plan on the Today programme. There, the task of explaining Labour's policy in layman's language was allotted to the home editor, Mark Easton.

Reid was brought in to be grilled by John Humphrys after Easton had finished. The interview had hardly begun before they were arguing about whether NHS waiting lists have gone up or down. One of Reid's answers - which were perhaps on the lengthy side - was interrupted 11 times by Humphrys.

The hope in government circles is that the post-Gilligan rethink inside the BBC will produce more examples of The Daily Politics's style of reportage, and less of the confrontational style of Today.

They may, however, be disappointed. In the competitive world of political broadcasting, The Daily Politics plays to a small audience, so it needs to offer something special to entice front-rank politicians. Three to four minutes of uninterrupted airtime is an obvious draw. Its self-imposed rules put the programme somewhat at the politicians' mercy. To achieve fairness, the programme will offer the same facility to each of the three main political parties in turn. The parties, not the programme editors, will decide which topics and which politicians to put up.

It would be cruel to name names, but there are people on each front bench who, if given the chance to speak at such length on their specialism, would induce crippling boredom. John Reid, as it happens, is one of the more entertaining Cabinet ministers, and health is a subject of universal interest. Another time, it could be an anorak droning on about constitutional reform.