TRYING to get three children to agree to a 24-hour sugar ban does not sound like many parents' idea of an easy negotiation.
But it could prove one of the least taxing of David Cameron's time in Downing Street.
The Conservative leader announced his plan to persuade his own children to forgo sugar for a whole day during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) yesterday to almost stunned silence from MPs.
"Blimey," you could see some of them thinking, "you're brave. And just days after Hallowe'en, too".
His announcement had a serious point. The PM had been challenged over his use of the sweet stuff by the Labour MP Keith Vaz, as part of a bid to raise awareness around diabetes.
But one cannot help but imagine the review his plan would get from political commentators.
"He's given away his hand," pundits would sigh, "Now the children know what his red lines are!" For his part, Ed Miliband was keen to focus on another of Mr Cameron's negotiations - that for reform of the EU.
It has not been a good week for the Tory leader on the issue.
One of his main allies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has reportedly shot down his hopes of reforming free movement of labour within the EU.
Six times Mr Cameron was questioned on the issue by Mr Miliband - and repeatedly on whether he would ever personally campaign to leave the EU.
The Prime Minister suggested only a few years ago that was something he could "never" do. But he ducked that question from the Labour leader.
Instead, in a slightly mixed metaphor, he accused Mr Miliband of being a "dead parrot" leading a "chicken" Labour Party with nothing to say about Europe.
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