If the rumours are to be believed, Gordon Brown may soon have one less problem.

According to a number of newspaper reports, the British Prime Minister is not the most mild mannered of men. When colleagues or events conspire against him he has a tendency to explode.

Commentators claim he has a “reputation for hurling stuff about the place.” And last year one Labour MP told the London Evening Standard he “recently got through three mobile phones in one week by hurling them against the wall in anger.”

Over the past 18 months, according to a Cabinet Office spokesman, no fewer than 14 mobiles have been “damaged”, although supposedly at no cost to the taxpayer. Allegedly the devices can be replaced for free under the terms of the hire agreement.

No doubt many of us would be happy to sign such a contract, giving us a new handset every six weeks without paying a premium for the privilege. Somehow it is hard to imagine this option costs no more than a calling plan bundling only the one “free” handset as part of the agreement.

Perhaps the aforementioned Cabinet Office spokesman could provide us with an explanation. He might also like to comment on the environmental impact of forever churning your phone.

Conversely Gordon Brown could consider the words of the American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Frost, and his suggestion that “you are educated when you have the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence.”

But with so much going wrong, and with the Government staggering without purpose from one political disaster to the next, anger management is unlikely to be a top Downing Street priority.

So the news that Bic, the French company previously better known for its disposable pens,lighters and razors, is about to launch a throwaway mobile phone in Spain might provide some small relief.

Manufactured by sub-contractor of Alcatel and costing €29, the phone comes fitted with a battery and €12 of prepaid calls.

Launched in France last August, the handset has already sold more than 100,000 units, and from July will be available in Spain in newsagents, tobacconists, petrol stations and other points of sale.

Of course, being on Orange, the Bicphone looks anything but green. But it is also relatively small and lightweight. Consequently the Cabinet Office might like to place an order, if only for health and safety reasons.

Any Minister or innocent civil servant finding themselves in the firing line of the next Prime Ministerial eruption is likely to suffer considerably less damage from being hit by a lightweight device like the Bicphone than a brick such as the Omnia HD i8910.

But then again, given that Brown conspicuously failed to hit his promised target of ending boom and bust, there is probably little real danger of his aim with mobiles being any better.