Caught red-handed. Photographer: Carl de Souza/AFP/WPA rota/PA.

Gordon Brown's nail-biting habit seems to be getting out of hand. The Times seems to think his nibbling is a result of his obsessive nature, and the Sun is so concerned for the prime minister presumptive that it has advised counselling and a manicure to solve the problem.

The hard-bitten chancellor may be under a lot of stress, but resorting to chronic onychophagia is not doing him any favours in the media. What would you prescribe to help him break the habit?