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Today's Sunday Telegraph that we've all been discussing for weeks, that former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe is to succeed Francis Campbell as the UK's Ambassador to the Holy See. When I interviewed Ann Widdecombe a few weeks ago, I asked her about the rumour and she simply replied, "rumours are rumours". She refused to confirm or deny that she had been asked by the government to consider the appointment. When I also asked her if she had the diplomatic skills necessary to be an ambassador to the Vatican, she replied, "Yes!"

Diplomats, of course, have to practice the discipline of self-consorship. They are not the kind of people who rush from TV studio to TV studio offering their views on the contentious issues of the day. They are not newspaper columnists. Ann Widdecombe, on the other hand, has rarely been shy about expressing her own views on controversial issues or going "off-message" when her personal views are out of sync with the party line. If she takes up this diplomatic post, will she be prepared to limit her loquaciousness?

Here's a case in point. In an interview on tomorrow's Radio 4 Analysis programme, Ann Widdecombe (as reported in The Sunday Telegraph), expresses her deep concerns about a growing intolerance to Christianity in Britain today. In doing so, she refers to the introduction of new equality laws under the last government, which led to the closure of Catholic adoption agencies, and says: "In a truly free society nobody should be forced by law to promote something to which they have a serious conscientious objection."

Clearly she is commenting on a previous government's legislative actions, but is there any sign that the current government plans to overturn those equality laws? David Cameron has been absolutely clear on the question of Christian B&B owners that, notwithstanding their serious conscientous objections, they will be required to abide by new equality laws and accommodate gay and lesbian couples. Is the Prime Minister, then -- in Ann Widdecombe's language -- "forcing" those Christians to go against their own conscience?

If Ann Widdecombe is appointed ambassador to the Vatican, will she find herself, at times, personally torn between offering this kind of comment on contentious public questions and keeping her diplomatic powder dry?

Update: about Ann Widdecombe's diplomatic skills has now begun in earnest.