In reply to dissonance:
> Apart from it wasnt someone just being a smartarse for shit and giggles. It was because the tories had just announced it was one of their goals to have kids knowing their times table by the time they left primary school.
> Hence, not unreasonably, the reporters assumed if they considered it important then he should be able to answer it. This is the day after the education secretary failed to answer either.
Oh come on, you can't really be naive enough to think that they asked the question in the hope that he got it right!
On the whole I'd sooner have a Prime Minister who recognises a trap when they see it, than one who walks right into it.