FOR TOO long in politics to admit you are wrong is, for some reason, considered the first sign of madness.

In the real world it is considered a virtue. Last week my fellow DEFRA ministers and I held up our hands and said that our plans for a rethink of how we manage the public forests was not going to work.

My boss, Caroline Spelman, went to the House of Commons and ''fessed up'. She did so in a dignified and open fashion and you felt her stock rise in the House as she did it. When I think back to the constant justifying of the impossible from the dispatch box we heard in bygone years, this was refreshing. It didn't matter that many of the public's fears about our plans were totally unfounded or that some untruths were peddled by those seeking to make political capital at our expense.

The truth is that we couldn't have the conversation we wanted to have with people who clearly mind passionately about our forests, because we had not prepared the ground and headed off all such concerns at an early stage. Well, as in all life, in politics you live and learn.

We are doing a great deal in DEFRA. Good work supporting rural Britain and rural communities. We are rolling out broadband to remote villages, making farmers and fishermen feel respected and valued, producing a vital and comprehensive piece of work on managing the natural environment, implementing new measures to protect homes from flooding, reforming the water industry and much, much more.

I would prefer to be in a Department that made the odd boob than be in one that was not facing up to the many problems out there. I am also proud to be part of a Government that listens.

On Friday I took an hour off to go racing at Newbury. This was the replacement for the meeting so tragically cut short by the death of two horses the previous week. I was able to show my support for the Racecourse and for all it does for our local community. As usual I lost a few quid but it was good to see so many people there.