Opinion: The Ferret ... digs behind the headlines

Several paragraphs later, the answer comes. It's Robert Whelan, the deputy director of right-wing think-tank Civitas. This is scarcely news. One-time director and current trustee of Family and Youth Concern, Whelan first issued a press release calling for the abolition of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit more than three years ago.

Between The Telegraph's alarmist accusation and the unmasking of its source came an account of a highly respected sexual health nurse who had given a young woman, aged around 17, a contraceptive injection in the toilets of a McDonald's after the teenager asked to meet her there. The nurse, Angela Star, told an international health conference in Belfast about it. No professional raised any question about Star's action. Her manager backed her. Her employer, Gateshead Primary Care Trust, said she was an exemplary employee who had won the Sexual Health Nurse of the Year award. Robert Whelan, on the other hand, is in line for the Silly Man Who Will Say Anything award. For instance: "Some so-called health professionals walk a very fine line between being professional, medical people and sex industry workers." Excellent try, Robert. The prize is nearly yours.