The sight of Professor Floud with smoke metaphorically pouring from his ears also caused a stir at a recent LGU graduation ceremony. His attack on the Government went down rather well, except with one of the graduates who happened to be married to a Conservative MP. Professor Floud subsequently received a letter of complaint from the MP accusing him of spoiling a wonderful family occasion by introducing a political element. But the letter differed from standard letters of complaint by asking for a copy of the speech - presumably so it can be circulated to other Tory MPs in order to annoy them.