I guess all those years of isolation will have some effect on your mental health.

She said: “During his stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy, during the government of the former president Rafael Correa, they tolerated things like Mr Assange putting feces on the walls of the embassy and other types of behaviour of this kind.

"That is far removed from the minimum respect a guest should have in a country which has generously welcomed him.”

The minister did not make it clear if he had used his own poo or someone else’s – as questions were asked of the status of Assange's cat James.