WE HELD A VIGIL OUTSIDE THE CHINESE EMBASSY FOR AKMAL SHAIKH BUT THE CHINESE PUT THIS MENTALLY ILL BRITON TO DEATH

The fate of Akmal Shaikh, who was put to death in China early on Tuesday morning, got very little media attention until the Chinese Supreme Court rejected his final appeal. That was on 21st December, and his execution was scheduled for the 29th.

I had been aware of Akmal’s case before then; I’d seen the occasional newspaper report, and I’d watched Stephen Fry’s video appeal a few weeks ago. But I hoped, and expected, that the Chinese authorities would reprieve Akmal. It was clear Akmal was innocent, that he’d been duped and that he was mentally ill. Surely even the Chinese wouldn’t execute him ?

But for me everything changed on the 21st. This man was going to die in 8 days time. I was shocked.

I knew that Reprieve (http://www.reprieve.org.uk/akmalshaikh), an excellent campaigning organisation, was working tirelessly for Akmal. I knew that the British Government had been making representations on his behalf - Gordon Brown had apparently spoken to Premier Wen about Akmal during the Climate Change Conference earlier this month.

Logically I knew I could make no difference. But I also knew that if I just sat and watched events unfold, I would never forgive myself. I had to get involved.

It was nearly Christmas. There had been significant media reports after the rejection of Akmal’s appeal on the 21st. But then it all seemed to go quiet. No ‘Question Time’ on the BBC. No ‘Newsnight’. No ‘Andrew Marr Show’. Incessant Christmas music and frothy lightweight chatter. Many people on holiday. With everyone’s focus on turkey, Christmas jollity and presents, definitely not a good time to be condemned to death.

I e-mailed and wrote a letter to Gordon Brown; e-mailed my MP; e-mailed the Chinese Embassy. I tried to get a Twitter trend going - #stopexecutionofAkmalShaikh - but I’ve only got a few Twitter followers, and that didn’t take off.

And I joined a Facebook group called “STOP THE EXECUTION OF AKMAL SHAIKH”. When I joined, the group only had about 400 members. This soared to 1500 by the morning of the 29th December, and quadrupled to reach 6000 that evening.

On Facebook I joined others in discussing what could be done. Soon I found I had been put down as an Administrator. I hadn’t been asked, but I didn’t mind. In fact I was glad.

The idea was floated of holding a vigil outside the Chinese Embassy. To be honest, at first I wasn’t sure whether that would do much good. My feeling was that it might be more effective if we could persuade the Prime Minister to step up the pressure on China.

On Christmas Day I e-mailed Reprieve, and received a reply from Clive Stafford Smith, its Director. Clive thought a respectful candlelit vigil would be worthwhile.

I liaised with Maya Farr, who had been one of the original members of the Facebook group. Between us we arranged the vigil, which was to start at 11am on the scheduled execution day, 29th December. I suggested that we should also hand into the Chinese Embassy a letter, signed by all those attending the vigil. I wrote that letter and also the Press Release which we sent out the day before to all those on the media list supplied by Reprieve.

We weren’t sure at first whether we could get enough people to make the vigil viable. But we eventually had about 75 people who said they would definitely attend, and many others who said they might come. Unlike a demonstration a vigil can be effective with a relatively small number of people.

I also got the job of telling the police what we were going to do. They were very appreciative of this, and could not have been more helpful. I made it clear that it was going to be a quiet dignified peaceful vigil.

I was the first to arrive at the vigil, and introduced myself to the police officer outside the Embassy. I agreed that we would assemble on the other side of the road in Portland Place. Maya was the next to arrive, and before long there were also several TV crews. In the space of the next few hours Maya and I - and later on Akmal’s brother and other members of his family - did countless interviews. I myself did TV interviews for BBC News (twice), Sky News, Aljazeera, and even a Chinese TV channel. I was also interviewed twice by the Press Association (video unit and print journalist) and by LBC Radio and ABC news from Australia. I’m sure Akmal’s family members did far more interviews. In addition to those already mentioned, Channel 4, London Tonight, ITN, GMTV, as well as various French and Polish news outlets, did interviews with Akmal’s family, Maya and others.

The result of all this was that we had already achieved considerable publicity for Akmal’s plight even before most of his supporters had turned up. At last his plight was getting the publicity it needed. As far as I can gather, it was the lead story on Sky News and the BBC throughout the day. This had an affect,too, on membership of the Facebook group which soared from 1500 in the morning to 2500 early in the afternoon and 6000 by the end of the day.

The TV crews stayed there all day and were constantly updating the story. All this publicity was achieved with a small number of supporters. In the morning we probably had no more than 50. This grew in the early afternoon when more of Akmal’s relatives arrived. Although we had originally decided just to hold candles, some of the younger family members came with some homemade placards with brief pleas such as “Save Akmal’ and “Akmal has bipolar”.

At its peak we maybe had 100 people. People of all ages, races and creeds standing there with their candles on a bitterly cold December day. As it grew dark around 4pm the atmosphere was very poignant with everyone holding white candles which illuminated the homemade placards.

It was a privilege meeting members of Akmal’s family including his uncle, cousins, nieces and nephews of all ages as well as his brother, Akbar, a gentle, softly spoken man.

After all at the vigil had signed the letter to the Chinese Ambassador, Akbar and six other family members; Laura from Reprieve; Maya and I crossed the road to the Embassy. The police has said that we could have a delegation of ten, but advised us that it was unlikely that the Embassy would even accept the letter. While the rest stood on the pavement, I pressed the intercom buzzer. I said that I had a letter for the Ambassador. I was asked who I was, and I explained that I was from the Facebook group ‘Stop The Execution of Akmal Shaikh’. Then to everyone’s surprise, not least mine, I was told to come in and the door opened. (The Embassy had been shut all day because it was a public holiday.) I entered the Embassy, and on the left - behind a metal grille - was the receptionist. I passed him the letter under the grille. He was friendly enough, and said that he would give the letter to the Ambassador right away. I thanked him, came out and told the others and the waiting TV crews what had happened.

Shortly afterwards I talked to one of the members of a group which has been demonstrating outside the Chinese Embassy for eight years, protesting against the persecution of Falung Gong practitioners in China. He was very surprised that the Embassy had accepted our letter. They had never accepted a letter from his group. He told me that he thought this meant the Chinese planned to grant Akmal a reprieve.

The vigil had been scheduled to end at 6pm, but most of us were there until about 8pm. I felt we had achieved all we could by then. The idea had been to get maximum publicity so that as many people as possible would e-mail or phone the Chinese Embassy and also the Prime Minister, asking him to intervene personally. My own feeling was that Gordon Brown should pick up the phone and make a direct plea to the Chinese Prime Minister or President. In the event the matter seems to have been dealt with by the Foreign Office Minister, Ivan Lewis. He had a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador, made some very strong statements on behalf of Akmal, and revealed that the Government had made 27 representations in total to the Chinese authorities.

When I left at 8pm, there were only three or four people still at the vigil. Unless there was an earlier reprieve, they were talking about coming back before 2.30am when the execution was due to take place. In the event shortly after I left they were apparently joined by a few others so a dozen or so people continued the vigil outside the Chinese Embassy. Good for them. They were there until 4.15am when the awful news came through that Akmal had been put to death.

When I got home, I grabbed some food, then divided my time between TV news channels and our Facebook group. It was very emotional. Few of the Facebook supporters felt they could go to bed until they knew what had happened. At around 2.15am, Clive from Reprieve posted an encouraging message, saying we shouldn’t give up hope as it was possible there could still be a last minute reprieve. He instanced one of the cases he’d been involved in when a reprieve was granted literally within the last minute.

But it wasn’t to be. Eventually at about 4.15am the news channels confirmed that Akmal had been killed by lethal injection. There was an outpouring of grief and anger on the Facebook group. Frankly, I couldn’t take any more of it. I needed to be with my own thoughts for a while, and then at about 5am I got to bed for a disturbed few hours of sleep.

I have always been opposed to the death penalty. I remember, as a teenager, the campaign to get it abolished in Britain. I have never forgotten Sidney Silverman. He was the Labour MP whose abolitionist bill was eventually passed in 1965.

But even those who support the death penalty would be hard pressed to make a case for the execution of Akmal Shaikh. After selling his minicab business in London in 2004, he went to Poland. There his mental state seems to have got much worse. Apparently suffering from bi-polar disorder, which can make its victims delusional, he announced he was going to set up an airline, but had neither the funds nor expertise to do so. Eventually he ran out of money, and was homeless in Poland. He was befriended by some people who said they would help him achieve his dream of becoming a pop star in China. They agreed to meet at the airport. There the ‘friends’ said there was only one seat left on the plane. They told Akmal to take it, and said they would join him later. He agreed to take a suitcase for them. Unknown to him, it contained about 4 kilograms of heroin.

After a half hour trial, represented by a Chinese lawyer who didn’t speak very good English, Akmal was sentenced to death. At his appeal he insisted on making a long rambling speech to the court. The judges openly laughed at him. When asked if he was mentally ill, he said “no”. By then Reprieve had got involved but the court refused to allow either a local doctor or a forensic psychologist to examine him to assess his mental state.They then rejected his appeal. And so did the Chinese Supreme Court on 21 December.

In the letter to the Chinese Ambassador we wrote:

“We are writing to appeal for mercy to be shown to Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen, who is due to be executed in China tomorrow (December 29).

We know that the Chinese people care deeply about family and we would like to join Akmal's children and the rest of his family in begging for mercy for their father.

We respect the Chinese people, your great culture and your family values. We have been impressed by your huge achievements in recent years, and greatly enjoyed the wonderful Olympic Games you held last year.

At the very least we would urge a stay of execution so that the case can be reviewed by the local court, which originally imposed the sentence, as well as by the Supreme Court.

We take the issue of drugs smuggling very seriously, but we believe there is considerable evidence that Akmal is mentally ill, and genuinely did not know that the suitcase he was duped into carrying contained drugs.

We would ask that a full mental health examination should be carried out to assess Akmal’s condition.

Meanwhile we request that you pass on our plea for clemency to President Hu Jintao and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.”

But this letter - like all the other appeals - had no affect whatsoever on the Chinese authorities.

I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising. This is a regime which earlier this month sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison for co-authoring a Charter calling for political reform. I call that exercising his right to freedom of expression; the Chinese authorities called it “subversion”.

This is a regime which put more than 1700 of its citizens to death in 2008, 72% of the executions carried out in the world. And that is just the known executions. The actual total may be far higher.

The trend in the world continues to be against the death penalty. In 2008 only 22 of the world’s 195 countries inflicted it. Five countries - China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA - were responsible for 93% of all the world’s executions. Of these five countries, only two - Pakistan and the USA - are democracies, but Pakistan’s is very fragile and only America is a long-standing democracy. It would make the position of the United States much stronger in calling for human rights to be respected in countries such as China if the US abolished the death penalty.

Let us hope that 2010 sees further progress towards the abolition of this abhorrent penalty.

Remembrance Day - what do you remember ?

Today is Remembrance Sunday. As I watched the service at the Cenotaph, I was unmoved by the annual ritual of the Queen, Prime Minister, other royals and politicians laying their wreaths. But when the war veterans marched past, I felt a lump in my throat. There are no British survivors of the First World War, the war that many hoped would be "the war to end all wars', but sadly was not. Harry Patch, the last British veteran of the 1914-18 war, died earlier this year at the age of 111. But there were still many survivors of the 1939-45 war, all of them very old, some in wheelchairs. And, of course, there were veterans of more recent wars. We all have our own personal feelings on Remembrance Day. I think of my father who, as a young man, spent six years of his life serving in the British army during the Second World War. And although I was only six when he died, I think of my grandfather who served in the First World War. And I think of more recent conflicts, too, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Remembrance Day I believe it is right to remember those who have died, been wounded and have served in wars. But we should never glorify war. Some people are pacifists who believe that war is wrong is all circumstances. My own view is that war can only be justified as a last resort. The cause must be just, all attempts at a peaceful solution must have failed, there must be a genuine belief that war will produce a better outcome than not fighting, and the war must be winnable. Sir Winston Churchill, our inspirational Prime Minister during the Second World War, still believed that diplomacy (or in the slang of the time 'jawing') was preferable to war. He said "Jaw jaw is preferable to war war". And that great American founding father, Benjamin Franklin said "There never was a good war or a bad peace". Let Remembrance Day be a time to learn from history and to resolve not to repeat the mistakes of the past. I hope it is not true that we will never learn.

Mind-Boggling Ignorance

A few months ago a BBC News presenter blurted out in a heated altercation with a politician that she was paid £96,000 a year. She was not a ‘star’ presenter, just one of many news presenters appearing on the news channel. The stars get paid more, some a lot more.

But for nearly £100,000 a year, paid by all of us through our license fee, what can we expect ?

Well for a start the ability to read the news clearly. Sadly, some of them can’t even do that: they mumble and rush their way through their autocued script.

And secondly a reasonable understanding of the English language would help them to conduct sensible interviews. Half an hour ago I was astounded when a BBC News presenter clearly did not understand the meaning of the word ‘majority’.

She was interviewing Lindsay German, the leader of a demonstration that is being held in London today, calling for British troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

News presenter: “What do you want to achieve ?”

Lindsay German: “Well what we want to achieve is to change Government policy, and bring the troops home. This is a majority opinion of the British people now......”

News presenter: “Well you were saying a majority. In a recent poll 56 percent were opposed (to the war), 37 per cent in favour..........It’s not quite a majority. It’s just over half.”

Lindsay German: “Well that’s a majority. A majority is just over half surely. Over 50 per cent is a majority”.

Mind-boggling ignorance.

Solicitors from Hell, an Irish Priest, Orwellian Phone Companies and Rusty Scaffolding

The solicitors from Hell made our moving day much more stressful than it need have been. The removal men had left and we were just completing our last minute checks when the phone rang. It was our Ramsgate estate agent. The solicitors had forgotten to get us to sign the Transfer deed without which the deal could not be completed. So we had to rush down to our agent’s office, sign the document in front of a witness, and it was faxed back to the Incompetents.

We got to our new house in Catford at 2pm. The removal men had already been there half an hour. I called our solicitors. Voice mail as usual. But when I phoned the Catford estate agent, he told me he had made contact with the Unprofessionals, and they said that, money having been received for our Ramsgate house, they had now despatched the dosh to buy our new home. But later it turned out they had lied. The money was not sent till much later. No matter how hard I tried to persuade him otherwise, the agent said he could not release the keys until the seller’s solicitor had received the money. So we just had to grind our teeth, and wait. Eventually at 4.30pm the keys were in our hands.

The removal men decided to try to make up some of the lost time, and set to work at a cracking pace (literally). They did not heed the proverb “More haste, less speed”. And as they tore about the house, they knocked a lump of plaster off the ceiling above the stairs, shaved a sliver off an antique desk, scraped the beautiful wooden floors and damaged two handles on a bureau.

Shortly after they drove off, the parish priest knocked on the door. He’d come to bless the house. He was Irish, friendly and very funny – hope he didn’t mind my asking if he did stand-up comedy in his spare time ! But the blessing was in earnest, and involved prayers, holy water and a visit to every room in the house. Father John had to rush off to another appointment so he missed out on a glass of champagne. But our new next-door neighbour, who had attended the house blessing, helped us to quaff the bottle. And what a bottle it was ! Louis Chaurey, Marks and Spencer’s finest (luckily at a discounted price !) Delicious. And just what we needed.

We were knee deep in boxes, but we are gradually getting things sorted out. And although we left a lot of furniture behind in Ramsgate, we still have too much – anyone want a solid wood kitchen table with 4 chairs or a nice coffee table from India ?! Our new house, you see, is much smaller than the Ramsgate one. But it is very attractive, and we already love both it and the very quiet tree-lined street it’s in. More like the country than London.

The house has got loads of original features including a splendid front door with stained glass, marble fireplaces and exposed pine floors. But less care has been lavished on the garden. At its centre is a rusty old children’s scaffolding. Our solicitor said he would ensure this was removed before exchange of contracts. I suppose he must have slipped up. So unusual.

On Thursday came an Orwellian experience with Sky , the media giant, who supply us with tv, phone and broadband services. The satellite dish for the tv was duly installed. But when the phone, which was supposed to have been installed on Wednesday, was still not operative on Thursday, I was forced to make a reluctant plunge into that modern torture chamber known as the call centre. Hours were spent being buffeted from one multi-choice menu to the next. Occasionally a human-sounding voice could be heard, and would divert me to another wrong department. On one occasion I even ended up in the wrong country – the Republic of Ireland ! Eventually I found this helpful bloke called Amir. But even he could not penetrate the minefield left by the Moving Home Department. Our order could not be processed because of a failure of communication between computers. Mere mortals could not sort out this gigantic cock-up. We would have to submit another order, which could take two weeks to process (and who knows how many pounds worth of mobile phone calls). “To be honest,” said this Sky employee, “You’d be better placing your order with BT. It’ll be much quicker”. But just as I was cancelling Sky, the bell rang and there was the engineer to fix the phone. Just like a French farce. “Cancel the cancellation”, I told Amir.

As for our Broadband, the engineer said as there had already been broadband service on the line, it should be possible to get it up and running immediately. Bravely I rang Sky again, and they said that an engineer would phone me back in the next hour or two to sort it out. Needless to say that didn’t happen, so I went to Currys and bought a mobile broadband USB stick. Slower than Sky broadband, but a lot better than dial-up.

Ah, the joys of moving house !

Written on Friday 4th September 2009

Farewell to Ted Kennedy

Been watching Ted Kennedy's funeral service in Boston and, earlier today, a recording of parts of yesterday's memorial service at the JFK Library. Struck by the genuine love felt for him by so many people. Deeply caring person, always looking out for others; first to pick up the phone to console a bereaved friend or colleague; even personally phoned the families of all 177 Massachusetts citizens killed on 9/11; acting like a father to his nephews and nieces after Jack and Bobby assassinated; and his wonderful sense of humour.

Very moving service. Barack and Michelle Obama were there as were Bill and Hillary Clinton, George and Laura Bush, Jimmy Carter and his wife; also Orrin Hatch and John McCain; and many, many others - the famous, the not-so-famous - family, friends and colleagues.

Obama gave a heartfelt tribute. The short contributions of the young Kennedys, each selecting something important to Ted, were telling. And the speeches of his sons, Edward junior and Patrick, were full of grief, but also love and pride. Edward junior lost a leg when only 12 and told how his father helped him deal with that. And Patrick, a US Congressman, told a similar tale - he is asthmatic and suffered from mental health problems.

And the health problems of his sons are just a part of the suffering this family has had to endure. All of Ted's three brothers died violent deaths - Joseph killed in the Second World War, Jack and Bobby assassinated. In the years after his brothers were killed, there must have been times when Ted feared an assassin's bullet would kill him, too - and it would have been understandable if he'd retired from public life. But he didn't: he kept going, and in time became recognised as the greatest legislator of his generation.

Ted Kennedy, a rich man, who spent all his life fighting for the poor and underprivileged. A man of personal flaws (but we all have those) whose behaviour at Chappaquiddick forty years ago will always be held against him by some.

I remember as a young teenager the day JFK was killed; I remember as a university student being excited by Bobby Kennedy's Presidential campaign in 1968, and I was devastated when he was murdered. I hoped Ted Kennedy would one day become President, but his 1980 campaign failed not just because of Chappaquiddick but also because it seemed he just did not want it enough - we've all probably seen the clip of that faltering response when the interviewer asked why he wanted to be President.

Since then, I've admired Kennedy's work in the Senate. Usually I've agreed with his politics. Many in America think they're insulting someone by calling them a 'liberal'. He was proud of being liberal. And rightly so.

But in the last few days I feel I've learnt a lot more about Ted Kennedy. These are not the usual formulaic tributes paid to the dead. These are heartfelt, genuine outpourings of love from family, friends and political colleagues.

A remarkable man. His spirit will live on.

This post was written on Saturday 29th August 2009

Scottish Government was wrong to free convicted terrorist

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's decision to free al-Megrahi, the man convicted of killing 270 people in a terrorist attack on an American airliner as it flew over Lockerbie, Scotland, was wrong.

It has caused outrage in the United States which lost 189 citizens in the attack in 1989. And, although opinion has been less unequivocal in the UK (many British citizens died including 11 in Lockerbie) I think most people here believe that al-Megrahi, dying of cancer, should not have been sent home to Libya but should have ended his life in prison.

Al-Megrahi has always claimed he was innocent, and some people believe that his conviction was based on rather weak circumstantial evidence. But that was not MacAskill's stated view. He released him on the grounds that even though al-Megrahi had shown no mercy to his victims, it was right to be compassionate to him, and to let him return home to his family to die.

Many outside the UK might have been surprised that this decision was taken by the Scottish Government. For 10 years now Scotland has had its own Parliament with devolved powers from the UK Government. So Scotland is responsible for running many services including prisons and the judicial system. The UK Government is still in charge of Scotland's foreign policy but, although this decision had international repercussions, it was technically just a domestic matter.

Scotland is currently ruled by a minority Scottish National Party (SNP) government. Their aim is eventually to achieve full-blown independence for Scotland, a situation which has not existed since the Union of Parliaments in 1707 when the Scottish Parliament was abolished. I have been impressed by many of the achievements of the SNP Government, and have always liked Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister.

However, as I watched Mr MacAskill's theatrical performance at his press conference, and then saw him interviewed by the BBC, Channel 4 News and then CNN (I have never seen the wonderful Wolf Blitzer so angry) it seemed to me that he was revelling in the limelight a little too much. This was his chance to put himself and Scotland in a world spotlight. As someone who is both Scottish and British, I am embarrassed by his decision, and I do not want Scotland to be infamous as the country which released a terrorist.

I regard myself as a compassionate person. I am wholly opposed to the use of torture and the death penalty in any circumstances, and I believe prisoners should be treated humanely, whatever their offences. Al-Megrahi should have remained in prison, being given whatever medical help he needed to ease his dying weeks.

But to release him was to show contempt for his victims, and to show no compassion to the relatives who have been grieving for 21 years, and will grieve for the rest of their lives. How do you think they felt, Mr MacAskill, when the man convicted of their loved ones returned to a hero's welcome in Libya ?

A huge mistake.

SOLICITORS ARE USELESS

Solicitors are useless. We accepted an offer for our house in June, and the conveyancing is still dragging on. Our solicitor has known for ages that we want to complete this deal on 1st September. Today he sent us a list of about 20 supplementary questions from the purchaser's solicitor. The latter had dated the document "6th August" so it had taken my solicitor 12 days to get this document to me !

I spent an hour or so this afternoon answering the questions and e-mailed the answers to my solicitor. He said he would pass them on "in due course".When I asked what this meant, he said "in the next few days" ! My final e-mail today said I hoped that "after reconsideration" he would send them tomorrow. I await his response.

And this man has actually threatened to charge me an extra £100 (+ VAT of course) if there are fewer than 10 working days between exchange and completion ! If he does, perhaps I'll finally get round to reporting one of these overpaid useless so-called professionals to the Law Society. Which will probably get me nowhere.

And we're continuing to have a problem with the son of a neighbour. I'll tell the full story once we've completed this move, but this man is a Pain (with a capital 'P').

The English system of buying and selling houses is a disaster area. Unlike Scotland and most other sensible countries, no-one is legally committed to anything until exchange of contracts which takes place very late in the process - typically 8 or 9 weeks after you've accepted the offer. What this does is encourage dishonesty, deceit and double-dealing.

I used to scoff when people said moving house was stressful. But it certainly has been this time. Even now, about 8-9 weeks after we accepted the offer for our house, we could be told tomorrow that our purchasers had changed their minds and weren't going to buy it after all. And they would be perfectly within their rights - legal rights, I mean; moral rights - no. But morality doesn't come into it when people are buying and selling houses.

STOP TELLING LIES ABOUT BRITAIN'S NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE

"One of the wonderful things about living in this country is that the moment you're injured or fall ill – no matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you've got – you know that the NHS will look after you." - David Cameron, leader of the British Conservative Party.

This is the first time I have ever quoted David Cameron approvingly. But I am sick and tired of the lies and distortions being peddled by American conservatives about Britain's National Health Service. Of course, it's not a perfect system - is there such a thing ? But the overwhelming majority of British people - whether their political views are liberal or conservative, left wing or right wing - are glad that we have the NHS. We know that if we do fall ill, we will receive free medical treatment. So we will not have financial worries added to our health problems.

Incidentally The Guardian reported on Tuesday: "The UK spends less per head on healthcare but has a higher life expectancy than the US. The World Health Organisation ranks Britain's healthcare as 18th in the world, while the US is in 37th place."

In America something like 47 million people have no health insurance; millions more have inadequate policies and often face arguments with insurance companies when they are taken ill about exactly what is or is not covered.

Many American Presidents - starting with Theodore Roosevelt nearly 100 years ago - have tried to get a universal healthcare system in the US . All have failed - most recently Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The vested interests of the insurance companies and others have prevailed. So America remains the only major industrialised country in the world that doesn't guarantee health care for all its people.

America voted for change only eight months ago. And in electing Barack Obama, the USA voted for a President whose commitment to healthcare reform was spelt out day after day at campaign rallies throughout the country. No-one can have been in any doubt about his policy on this vital issue.

I have been shocked by the tactics of some of Obama's opponents. Calling him and other Democrats 'Nazis' is beyond the pale; one Congressman even had a swastika daubed outside his office.And I was frankly sickened by the fact that the police were apparently powerless to stop a man turning up to an Obama meeting with a gun strapped to his leg.

I love America, though I have often disliked the policies of its Presidents. Perhaps some people think I should not comment on American domestic politics. But increasingly we live in a global village with CNN, NBC and Fox News available to satellite subscribers in the UK and throughout the world. But in addition on this occasion the American right has involved Britain by maligning our NHS. So I feel no qualms about my intervention.

Obama is right about health care, and I hope he prevails. America is fortunate to have him as President.

Why do people put artificial 'laminate' wood on their floors ? It looks horrible. Sometimes they even cover up real wooden floors !

I'm sure laminate floors will in time be seen as one of the major cultural vandalisms of the current era - on a par with the 1960s practice of ripping out Victorian fireplaces.

PUNCH & JUDY POLITICS

I liked David Cameron when he first became Tory leader.  He was a breath of fresh air after a succession of quite appalling Opposition leaders.  He seemed genuine in his desire to take the Conservative Party to the centre of British politics. I liked his commitment not to engage in 'Punch & Judy' politics.

I have been out of the country so today I watched Prime Minister's questions for the first time in three months.  Cameron used all six questions to insult the Prime Minister, telling him how useless he was at his job.  He is in a unique position to question the Prime Minister on the issues of the day.  But where were the questions on the economy, the Gurkhas, Royal Mail reorganisation, Swine Flu, etc ?  Six questions and nothing but childish insults.

Of course, all this delighted the Tory benches, whooping with glee as he indulged in this pathetic personal attack. Does Cameron think this will appeal to the wider public, too ?  Or will they perhaps see that these unpleasant personal attacks are a distraction from Conservative policies ?  

Cameron has now shrugged off his cuddly, liberal image, and is tacking to the right.  Brown and Obama see increased public spending as the most likely way to see us safely through this recession.  Cameron and the Republicans in America want spending cuts.  But maybe Cameron fears the British public may prefer the Brown approach so he has decided to play the man, not the ball.

When watching the American Presidential election, I was struck by how much respect Obama and McCain showed each other.  How much nastier and more trivial does British politics seem.

Brown's getting a kicking from the awful British media, and even from some of his own supporters including the very dim Hazel Blears.  Cameron believes in kicking a man when he's down.  I hope he never becomes Prime Minister.