sugar-coat

"But I'm not going to sugar-coat it. There are a lot of scary things that would come this person's way. In the world of football, being an openly gay player is a very toxic place."

Both said winter fuel cuts had been a mistake but Phillipson said the party should focus on "the 90% of things it got right" - including family hubs and workers' rights -while Powell said that it wasn't possible to "sugar-coat" big errors, adding that voter disillusionment needed to be addressed.

If you expect me to sit there and try and sugar-coat things which fans can see, I don't think I should be doing it.

"I don't want to sugar-coat this, people have been through it," said Nandy.

"I won't sugar-coat it: it's rough. But I'm hopeful," she said.