Gordon Brown signals start of Labours general election campaign

By Robert Mendick Published: 12:50PM GMT 20 Feb 2010

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The Prime Minister issued his rallying call at a meeting of activists in Coventry, in which he appealed to the electorate to "take a second look" at his party"s policies. He also accused the Tories of being out of touch with Britain"s "mainstream majority".

"My message to the people of Britain today is simple," he told the high-profile gathering attended by key cabinet ministers. "I know that Labour hasn"t done everything right.

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And I know - really, I know - that I"m not perfect. But I know where I come from, I know what I stand for, and I know who I came into politics to represent.

"And if you, like me, are from Britain"s mainstream majority - from an ordinary family that wants to get on and not simply get by, then my message to you today is simple: take a second look at us and take a long hard look at them."

Labour were "the changemakers" in the election, he said, setting out the four key themes for the campaign.

"First, we must secure the recovery, not put it at risk. Second, we must support new industries and future jobs.

"Third, as we reduce the deficit by half, we must protect and not cut frontline services. And fourth, we must stand up for the many not the few."

The timing of the speech, which coincides with Mr Brown"s 59th birthday, had prompted some speculation he could announce a snap election earlier than a poll on May 6, which remains the most likely date.

But he made no mention of timings other than to joke with his audience that there were 76 campaigning days left - a reference not to a national election but to the date of the local elections.

While Mr Brown"s speech noticeably omitted any pre-election policy announcements it nevertheless raises the stakes in the run up to the general election.

He arrived on stage to the strains of Jackie Wilson"s "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" after speeches from cabinet colleagues including Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary.

He then immediately targeted David Cameron"s opposition in a bid to exploit narrowing opinion polls and tap into what the party believes is a "submerged optimism" among the electorate.

Labour is gearing up for what it calls "Operation Fightback". Local activists are being sent campaigning material while voters in marginal seats are receiving mail shots.

Ministers are also being dispatched to key battlegrounds around the country. Mr Brown described the coming campaign as a "street by street" fight for victory on the doorsteps.

With political differences over how best to tackle the UK"s record £178 billion deficit dominating exchanges in the run up to the election, Mr Brown put recovery efforts in the top three places of his electioneering themes.

He accused the Tories of planning a series of cuts that would hit the "mainstream majority" and harm the economy: spending cuts this year; an end to cancer and GP guarantees; axing some child benefit and children"s centres; tax cuts for wealthy estates; retaining hereditary peers and overturning the ban on fox hunting.

And he seized on recent Tory document that mistakenly claimed more than half of girls in some parts of the UK were pregnant by the age of 18 - it is in fact 5%.

"Can they claim they know the aspirations of mainstream Britain when they so clearly understand so little of how we live?" he asked to cheers.

In a reference to the ongoing political row over how to pay for elderly care, he went on: "When it comes to the most vulnerable people in our society, if you put partisan point scoring before a consensus on social care, real families really suffer.

"If you frighten people with made up figures on crime, real families really suffer.

"And if you talk Britain down in the middle of a recession and undermine confidence, real families really suffer.

"Because government is not a game. Because when you peel away the veneer and actually look at what their policies mean, what you see is not the new economics of the future, it"s the same old Conservative economics of the 1980s."

Dismissing Mr Cameron"s claim that a changed Tory party now occupied the centre ground, he said the party had done nothing but "change their appearance, to give the appearance of change.

"To those who are beginning to wonder how to use their vote, ask yourself whether at heart you believe in fairness and individual opportunity," he said.

"Ask whether you want to keep on the road to economic recovery or to return to the same old social divisions of the Tory years."

"And so today I issue a call to every progressive to come together to fight for the values we cherish and the country we love.

"This campaign is not going to be won somewhere else by someone else - it"s going to be won street by street, school-gate by school-gate, workplace by workplace - it"s going to be won by you.

"If you believe in taking this country forwards not backwards then Labour are the change-makers in this election."

Winter Olympics 2010: Amy Williams profile

Published: 9:15AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

Golden girl: Amy Williams has jumped into the British record books Photo: REUTERS

Born: Cambridge, Sept 29, 1982Lives: Bath. Height: 5ft 8ins. Weight: 9st. Education: Sports Studies at University of Bath. Hobbies: Painting and creative art. Nickname: Curly Wurly. Did you know: She was a county level 400m runner before switching to Skeleton.

2002 - Entered World Push Championships and won silver medal.

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2007 - Seventh in World Championships, St Moritz, Switzerland.

2007/08 - Third in World Cup events at Calgary, Canada and Park City, USA.

2008 - Fifth in World Championships, Altenberg, Germany.

2009 - Silver medal in World Championships, Lake Placid, USA.- World Cup silver at Whistler event.

2010, Feb 18 - Breaks the track record (53.83 seconds) in her opening run in the women"s Skeleton competition at the Whistler Sliding Center.

Feb 19 - Wins Winter Olympic Games gold medal for Great Britain at Whistler Sliding Center.

Lions 65 Waikato Chiefs 72: match report

Published: 11:27AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

Free-flowing: the final score has rewritten the Super 14 record books Photo: EPA

The Waikato Chiefs have beaten the Lions 72-65 in a high-scoring match that has rewritten the Super 14 record books.

The 137 points eclipsed the previous best total of 118 set in Natal"s 75-43 win over the Highlanders in 1997 and the 18 tries scored surpassed the 14 touchdowns that were accumulated in the Crusaders" 96-19 victory over the Waratahs in 2002.

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Man of the match Stephen Donald registered 32 points as the New Zealanders picked up their second away win in this season"s competition.

The Chiefs, runners-up in 2009, scored nine tries, including a hat-trick by All Blacks centre Richard Kahui, to notch up consecutive victories on South African soil following their 19-18 triumph over the Sharks in the opening round of fixtures.

The Lions recovered from a 17-6 deficit to lead 25-17 before the visitors countered with 48 unanswered points either side of the break.

The tone was set in the second minute when Chiefs centre Callum Bruce dived over in the right corner from a scrum near the line.

Fly-half Donald, who contributed a try, three penalties and nine conversions in a flawless kicking display, added the extra points.

Lions full-back Earl Rose, who had two penalties and five conversions, kept the home side in the game before centre Kahui charged through for the first of his three tries.

The Chiefs threatened to run away with the game but the Lions responded with 19 unanswered points through tries from winger Wandile Mjekevu, US international Todd Clever and former All Blacks fly-half Carlos Spencer.

Donald put the Chiefs back in front on the stroke of half-time before team-mate Liam Messam sparked a remarkable sequence of points-scoring with his only try.

Students at Oxfords Christ Church accused of dealing heroin

By Heidi Blake Published: 8:00AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

Olivia Channon died of a drug overdose in rooms at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1986

Authorities at Christ Church circulated an email warning students that they would be handed over to police if they were caught with the class A drug after an anonymous tip-off that undergraduates were allegedly selling heroin.

Christ Church, among the largest of the universitys 38 colleges, became entangled in a drugs scandal in 1986 when Olivia Channon, the daughter of the Conservative cabinet minister Paul Channon, died on campus from a heroin overdose at the age of 22.

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Miss Channon was celebrating the end of her finals when she died after a drugs party in the rooms of Count Gottfried von Bismarck.

The count died in 2007 following a two-day heroin and cocaine binge.

Ian Watson, the junior college censor in charge of discipline, sent students an email over the latest incident this month, with the subject line: "Urgent warning concerning drugs."

"The law applies just as rigorously within college as elsewhere. The censors have neither the power nor the wish to protect anyone who breaks it," he wrote in the message to the colleges 426 students.

Setting out the allegations, he added: "Last week the censors received an anonymous letter alleging the existence in Christ Church of a considerable drugs culture, including the supplying of class A drugs such as heroin. The letter named one individual.

"The police, whom the censors consulted in the person of the community liaison officer who deals with the university, have advised that this letter does not in itself constitute usable evidence with which to start an investigation.

"All junior members should, however, recall that the use, and especially the supplying, of prohibited drugs constitutes a serious criminal offence," he wrote. The email, printed in the student newspaper Cherwell, warned that anyone caught using drugs would face prosecution and possible expulsion from Oxford.

One third-year student, who did not wish to be named, told the student newspaper that he was aware of a drugs culture at the college but denied that heroin was in regular use. "There are quite a few people on drugs, but I dont know about heroin dealing in the college. I was pretty shocked about the heroin," he said.

"It looks like some nutter coming in, seeing a few people looking rough, and saying theyre all smack-heads. Its palpably false there is no heroin in Christ Church."

Lou Stoppard, another student, said the allegations had caused "confusion". "It seemed like an overenthusiastic censor being overdramatic," she said.

A spokesman for Christ Church confirmed that the email had been sent. A statement from Oxford said: "The university and the colleges take illegal drug use very seriously. It is first and foremost a welfare issue. In that respect students will find a range of support at Oxford, both at college and university level."

FBI closes 9/11 anthrax investigation

Published: 8:12AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

The anthrax letters were sent to US politicians and news organisations in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

A source close to the investigation told the Associated Press said the FBI was finally satisfied it had identified that Dr Irvins acted alone.

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The anthrax case was one of the most vexing and costly investigations in US history until officials announced in 2008 that the lone suspect was Dr Bruce Ivins, who killed himself as authorities prepared to indict him.

After reviewing its initial findings the FBI is said to be satisfied it was right and is closing the case for good.

Laced with anthrax, the letters were sent with childish handwriting and chilling scientific expertise.

The spores killed five people: two postal workers in Washington, a New York City hospital worker, a Florida photo editor and a 94-year-old Connecticut woman who had no known contact with any of the poisoned letters. Seventeen other people fell ill.

For years, the FBI chased leads.

In 2008, they announced that the mystery had been solved, but the suspect was dead. Authorities said that in the days before the mailings, Dr Ivins had logged unusual hours alone in his laboratory at the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. They also say he threw investigators off his trail by supplying false leads as he ostensibly tried to help them find the killer.

David Walliams and James Corden kiss at Haiti fund-raiser

By Nick Collins Published: 7:30AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

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Hosted by Trudie Styler, the show, which featured a tribute to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, was organised by supermodel Naomi Campbell through her pop contacts in the fashion, music, film and TV worlds.

Celebrities including Kate Moss, Dame Shirley Bassey, Linda Evangelista, Geri Halliwell and Girls Aloud"s Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh took to the catwalk wearing outfits by McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Giorgio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana.

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Ronnie Corbett, cricketer Andrew Flintoff, EastEnders" Larry Lamb and Piers Morgan modelled designer suits.

Wearing a gold corset Vivienne Westwood dress, Campbell accompanied her mother, Valerie, and Britain"s Got Talent judge Morgan, while the heavily-pregnant Denise van Outen in a Jasmine di Milo gown received rapturous applause.

A fund-raising auction followed the fashion show, where a signed painting by Damien Hirst sold for £300,000. A McQueen dress, specially designed for and worn by Moss, went for £100,000.

Bob Geldof, Sarah Brown, the wife of the Prime Minister, and retail boss Sir Philip Green were among the guests at the Fashion for Relief show at London"s Somerset House.

It was held in aid of the White Ribbon Alliance, which promotes safe pregnancy and childbirth around the world.

Funds raised at the show will go towards ensuring mothers and babies are at the heart of the Haiti"s new health system, organisers said.

Campbell said: ""I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has generously donated their time and effort to make Fashion for Relief happen.""

Mrs Brown, who is patron of the White Ribbon Alliance, said: ""It"s a privilege to be back here again at Fashion for Relief such a powerful cause.

""British people have been exceptionally generous in response to those affected by the Haiti earthquake disaster, raising £77m so far and playing their part."

Dantes Inferno video game review

By Nick Cowen Published: 2:01PM GMT 18 Feb 2010

Previous of Images Next The end of the level is in sight: Some of the boss battles are well designed Dante Of War: It"s possible to make a long list of the stylistic and gameplay elements Dante"s Inferno takes from God Of War The game"s combat makes an attempt to be balletic and flowing, but it fails. It is, however, satisfyingly bloody Have scythe, will travel: Dante"s weapon is a violent, but malleable multipurpose tool. Stare into the face of God: Players can punish or absolve their opponents

Formats: Xbox 360 and PS3 (tested)Developer: Visceral GamesPublisher: Electronic ArtsReleased: 5 February 2010Score: 6/10

It was initially tempting to employ the talents of our religious columnist Christopher Howse for this review. After all, Christopher is an expert on religion and it"s more than probable he will have read The Divine Comedy. I haven"t, so it"s impossible for me to determine to just how closely EA"s new hack and slash sticks to its source material. However, after watching the opening cinematic, I thought I"d spare Christopher the extra work. Whatever gaps exist in my knowledge about Dante, I"m certain he didn"t have the body of an NFL linebacker and a penchant for sewing bits of tapestry to his chest. And even if I"m wrong on both counts there, I can say with all confidence that he was never in possession of the Grim Reaper"s Scythe on his travails through the pits of hell.

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Dante"s Inferno is inspired by, rather than based on, the first part of The Divine Comedy. Players take on the role of Dante, who has just returned from the Third Crusade having visited all manner of violence on the population of the Middle East. He"s also impressively managed to kill Death and steal his Scythe. Upon arriving at his family"s home, he finds his lover, Beatrice, murdered and he falls to his knees in sorrow. Suddenly Satan appears in the form of a sneering miniature dust storm and spirits Beatrice"s soul away into the underworld. Guided by the spirit of Virgil, who looks and sounds like the soul of Obi Wan Kenobi at a toga party, Dante cuts his way across hell in search of the soul of his lover. Hilarity ensues.

Video game developers have a long-standing tradition of ransacking ancient myths and legends for ideas, so it was only a matter of time before they moved around to medieval religious texts. In the case of Dante"s Inferno, Visceral Games have a better fit than most for the medium. At just a cursory glances, the first part of Dante Alighieri"s fourteenth-century epic poem offers decent rubric for game level design, heaps of inspiration for story and characters and tons of ideas for horrible creatures for players to fight. Best of all, the source material is over 600 years old, so there"s no worry about copyright infringement. However, given how much grist Visceral have for their hellish mill, the most puzzling aspect about the finished game is how derivative it all is. While the plot is inspired by events in Dante"s epic poem, Visceral"s title also takes a lot gameplay and presentation cues from another classic this time, a video game from 2005, God Of War. Once again, this sort of practice isn"t unheard of in video games as developers constantly take inspiration from their contemporaries. However, in order to transcend their influences, developers also need to produce a game which offers an experience that is significantly different from its source of inspiration, otherwise all they"re doing is making a clone.

Allow me to be blunt; Dante"s Inferno is a God Of War clone without shame and not just because its protagonist is a muscle-bound warrior sporting red tattoos and a malleable, multi-purpose weapon. The combat slavishly follows God Of War"s format, involving mêle which makes an attempt to be balletic and flowing and fails and magic, which is mapped to the face buttons and R1. The game progression is a mixture of mêle combat, platforming and abseiling, puzzle solving, boss battles and action set pieces involving quick-time events. The levels of hell contain tons of levers, pullies, pressure pads, zip lines and movable stone slabs. I could list more, but I"d probably run out of space. The game puts a premium on collecting orbs. Dante replenishes health, magic and XP by breaking fonts; to do this players holding a shoulder button and tapping the circle button rapidly this is also how the open doors. Dante"s Inferno apes so many gameplay and presentation tics from the God Of War games, that if you"ve ever played any of them you can have a rather fun afternoon listing their like I did.

However, even if you argue that most of the heavy lifting in Dante"s Inferno has been done by Kratos, there"s still plenty to admire about it. After all, just because a game in an out and out clone doesn"t necessarily mean that it will be awful to play (if you want proof of this, pick up a copy of Saints Row 2). While the combat is certainly derivative, it"s also satisfyingly brutal and bloody. Most of it involves using combo attacks to slice up opponents with a scythe, but Dante can also use Beatrice"s crucifix to blast foes from a distance. Dante has the option of absolving or punishing some opponents for their sins, and either way the player decides will open up more attacks which can be bought with souls which double as experience points (XP). Players will also come across the odd sinner (in the form of Pontius Pilate or Filippo Argenti) who they can damn or send to heaven with a little mini-game for more XP. The combat has several issues the target lock-on is rubbish and if anyone attacks Dante in mid-combo they score an automatic hit but on the whole, they don"t eat into one"s enjoyment of the action too much. There"s also a series of relics that the player can collect that also bestow extra powers.

The game"s production values are top-notch. The soundtrack which includes visceral combat effects, grinding industrial clanks and the ever-present screaming of the damned is note-perfect and the menacing orchestral score by Garry Schuman (who also composed the music for the recently released BioShock 2) is excellent. The visuals are fantastic the in-game graphics are crisp, the cut-scenes well rendered, and the story parts which revealed through a series of grisly animations are excellent. A lot of the environments look superb; especially in the early stages. The designers deserve a lot of credit for making the realm of the undead in their game look epic, disturbing and repulsive in equal measure. From the gnarled, twisted forest of Anger, to the mixture of burned rock and rivers of molten gold in Greed, to the disgusting fluid-filled stretches of Gluttony, the first few circles of look, feel and sound like a credible vision of hell. What"s better is that in some stages particularly Lust, Greed and Gluttony the creatures match their environments. In Greed, Dante is attacked by apparitions chained up to gigantic boulders of gold who bleed coins rather than blood, and in Gluttony he"s set upon by lumbering, obese horrors who spew acidic faeces from both orifices. The latter of those two may sound disgusting, but they"re nothing compared to the wretches found in Lust. There is an element of gratuity about the game"s vision of hell breasts, blades and copious amounts of blood and other bodily fluids are on display a lot of the time. However, the developers could quite rightly slap down most of these accusations (give or take the odd needlessly exposed breast) by pointing out that they"re depicting a vision of hell. Their efforts wouldn"t exactly be helped if they exercised much restraint.

What lets the game down, however, is that the level design starts running out of ideas somewhere beyond the midway point. This is first signposted around the time the player reaches Anger; enemies which seemed to be an integral part of other environments, such as the slimy worms of Gluttony, start showing up. This impacts on the game"s power to disturb the player, as foes which made one"s stomach churn when they first arrived on screen, pack far less of a wallop visually by the fifth or sixth time one sees them. It also makes the combat feel repetitive as many of the tactics that proved effective against earlier foes, will invariably be used again. Perhaps to combat against this, the game has a nasty habit of filling the screen with enemies, and then tossing an annoyance into the mix, such as having to avoid a the fists or fire-breath of a massive demon in the background. The final few levels of the game are a genuine slog; it"s here that the player encounters a series of arena battles, some of which have to be beaten with a handicap exclusively with aerial attacks or without magic, for example.

It"s this downturn that ultimately decides our score for Dante"s Inferno. Even though the game"s controls, visuals, subject matter and its penchant for blood-strewn combat scream God Of War, the first two-thirds of the game are genuinely entertaining. It may have been derivative in the extreme, but halfway through the game it seemed for a while that Dante"s Inferno could have been considered a guiltily pleasurable alternative to God Of War. But these hopes were dashed in the final third where poor design, repetitive waves of enemies and button-bashing gameplay took all my enjoyment and curdled into a numbing disappointment. In the end, the final credits were a relief as I"d only completed the game for the sake of this review. Dante"s Inferno is by no means a terrible game, but it"s not an essential title and I wouldn"t recommend paying full price for it. If a sequel is on the cards as is hinted by the ending the developers would do well to institute a more consistent level of quality. Until then, one can"t damn the players of Dante"s Inferno for trading the nine circles of hell for a trip to Hades with Kratos.

Cyber attacks on Google came from Chinese schools

By Nick Allen, in Los Angeles Published: 11:01AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

The Chinese government has firmly denied any involvement in the cyber attacks which led to Google threatening to pull the plug on its Chinese search engine Photo: REUTERS

The attacks began as early as April, months earlier than previously thought, the New York Times reported, citing sources involved in the investigation.

The educational establishments allegedly involved were Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School, the paper said.

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Jiaotong University has a leading computer science department and recently won an international competition organised by IBM.

Lanxiang Vocational School is in Shandong Province and some of its computer science students have gone on to work for the Chinese military, the newspaper said.

Spokesmen for the Chinese schools told the New York Times they were not aware that the Google attacks had been traced to their campuses.

The Chinese government has firmly denied any involvement in the cyber attacks which led to Google threatening to pull the plug on its Chinese search engine.

Google has said the attacks on its servers were "highly sophisticated" and attempted to target Gmail accounts of human rights activists.

Abbey Road: Andrew Lloyd-Webber very interested in buying former Beatles studio

By Stephen Adams, Arts Correspondent Published: 7:30AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

Previous of Images Next A spokesman for the composer said he was "very interested" in purchasing the studios. Photo: Terry O"Neill The move comes just days after EMI announced it would be offloading the studio in North London. Photo: GETTY The Beatles pictured at the studios for the "Our World" television Broadcast in 1967. Photo: REX

A spokesman for the musical impresario said he was "very interested" in buying the studios, as it was "vital" they were saved for the music industry.

The move comes just days after EMI announced it would be offloading Abbey Road, made famous by The Beatles" eponymous album, because the site was "not an integral part of the business".

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The announcement has thrown the future of the world"s oldest purpose-built recording studios into doubt, at a time when many believe digitisation will make such facilities redundant.

But now Lord Lloyd-Webber, the force behind musicals such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and The Phantom of the Opera, has indicated a serious intent to buy.

His spokesman said: "Andrew Lloyd Webber is very interested in buying Abbey Road Studios. He first recorded there in 1967 with Tim Rice. "Andrew has since recorded most of his musicals there, from Jesus Christ Superstar to his new musical Love Never Dies."

He continued: "He thinks it is vital that the studios are saved for the future of the music industry in the UK.

"Abbey Road has such great facilities, with three major recording studios, and Andrew has probably brought more musicians to record there than anyone else, because it has the capacity to record large orchestral productions."

There has been speculation that Abbey Road could be worth as much as £30 million.

Last night Sir Tim Rice indicated he might be interested in joining a consortium. However, he said Lord Lloyd-Webber had not discussed it with him.

Asked if he was interested, he said: "It depends. If there"s a consortium with Andrew or Paul [McCartney] or somebody, I would not be uninterested."

But he cautioned: "I would need to know a lot more about it. Does it have a future? Because people can make a recording in their front rooms nowadays. If it"s just history then it"s hard to justify."

However, he said he loved the studios because of the creative energy that resonated within its walls.

"You need that bouncing off people and the sense of occasion," he said.

While other major figures in the entertainment industry have made noises about the sale, until Lord Lloyd-Webber none had put their hands up to declare an interest in buying the studios.

On Tuesday Sir Paul McCartney said: "There are a few people who have been associated with the studio for a long time who were talking about mounting some bid to save it. I sympathise with them. I hope they can do something, it"d be great. I have got so many memories there with the Beatles."

Chris Evans, the BBC Radio 2 disc-jockey, said: "If I was a gazillionaire, like I used to be, I wouldn"t think twice about snapping it up. This is a must buy, must have the ultimate in Beatles memorabilia."

He suggested the National Trust purchase the building, which resulted in a flood of public support for the idea.

Abbey Road has a heavyweight claim as a serious heritage site.

It become the first purpose-built recording studios in the world in 1929 when The Gramophone Company, EMI"s forerunner, purchased the white-stucco fronted Georgian mansion for £100,000.

The National Trust is seriously considering buying in. A spokesman said: "We are very touched and excited about the way the public have responded. We are going to see if there"s any way we can play a role."

Anna Ford launches attack on Martin Amis

Published: 8:57AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

Martin Amis has come under attack from former BBC newsreader Anna Ford Photo: RICHARD SAKER

Ms Ford, who is currently employed as a non-executive director of the supermarket chain J Sainsbury, has accused the author of being a narcissist and a whinger.

The attack came in an open letter to the Guardian following an article by Mr Amis in the paper"s Review section, in which he accused newspapers of constantly misrepresenting his views on women and euthanasia.

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The former BBC journalist told the newspaper: "I opened up my Guardian last week and I thought: Oh, for heaven"s sake, there"s Martin whingeing again, He really ought to just stop. It annoyed me so much I decided to write a letter. It"s a For Heaven"s Sakes letter, really.

Amis"s article, in last Saturday"s Guardian Review, argued that far from "stirring up the press" by being "controversial-on-purpose" whenever he has a new book out, his latest, The Pregnant Widow, was published this month, it is newspapers that stir themselves up by misrepresenting him.

Recent headlines such as "Martin Amis: "Women have too much power for their own good"" and "Amis calls for euthanasia booths on street corners" were, he said, essentially down to the media"s own "chaotic perceptions", based in at least one instance on "a mishmash of half-quotes".

Getting "taken up (and recklessly distorted) in the press is not something I do," he wrote . "It"s something the newspapers do. The only person who can manipulate the fourth estate is Katie Price."

Ms Ford, who has known Amis for more than 30 years, admitted that "as a feminist I don"t enjoy reading him; he may be one of our most distinguished writers, but I think his attitude to women is highly questionable.

"Obviously when you are an author you put your work into the ­public domain," she said.

"But Martin seems to think that having highly controversial views on a number of subjects nuclear warfare, Iraq, Muslims is not going to attract criticism.

"It seems to me that if you"re going to be a controversial writer, then you have to expect people to have an opinion about you, and you have to take the rough with the smooth. It"s this unattractive, immature whingeing that really gets me. He just ought to stop."

Ms Ford, who retired from television in 2006 after becoming ITN"s first woman newsreader and being part of the ­presenting team on the BBC Six O"Clock News, the Today programme and TV-am, is considerably harder on Amis in her letter, asking whether the author might not be better taking "a closer and more honest look at himself in relation to others" rather than "complaining about reckless distortions and chaotic perceptions".

She also relates two very personal anecdotes about her late husband, the cartoonist Mark Boxer, a close friend of Amis. Amis once visited Boxer in bed shortly before he died of a brain tumour in 1988 not just out of affection, Ford alleges, but because he was "filling in time before a plane".

The author subsequently wrote a piece in which he described crying as he left; tears of which Ford "saw no evidence".

She also says that when one of her two daughters was studying English at university reading Amis, she was un­aware that he was her godfather.

"We invited you to lunch," Ford tells Amis. "You paid scant attention to Claire (didn"t even cough up the statutory five bob expected from godfathers!) and she hasn"t heard from you since.

"Can I suggest that this level of narcissism and inability to empathise may be at the root of your anger with the press and your need to court attention?"

Amis declined to comment on Ford"s letter, saying with some restraint that he would prefer to speak to her personally.

Couples wed later as marriage falls to record low

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor Published: 7:30AM GMT 12 Feb 2010

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Previous of Images Next Dr Rake sounded the death knell for the traditional family Photo: Stephen Shepherd Dr Rake sounded the death knell for the traditional family Photo: Stephen Shepherd

People are now typically waiting until their mid 30s before they get married, with the high cost of weddings, a greater proportion of people pursuing higher education and increased foreign travel among the reasons for the change.

It also suggests that more people - particularly the growing number of career women - are deciding to concentrate on work before settling down.

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The average age of a woman getting married is now 33.8 years, up from 29.1 a decade ago, while the average age of a man is now 36.5 years, up from 31.2 years.

The figures appeared in the annual marriage data from the Office for National Statistics yesterday, which also showed that the marriage rate had fallen to a new all-time low.

Fewer couples are getting married than at any time since 1862, when records began.

The data also showed that, for the first time ever, fewer than 2 in 100 women got married in a single year in 2008. The rate fell from 2 per cent to 1.96 per cent, less than half the rate 25 years ago.

The ONS also said that under one of its measures the number of unmarried women now outnumbered married women for the first time. Of the adult female population, 49 per cent are married, though if you include married but separated women - estranged but not divorced - this figure climbs to 52 per cent.

The figures sparked, once again, a debate over whether married couples should enjoy tax breaks.

Last month Ed Balls, the Children"s Secretary said the policy, which has been suggested by the Conservatives was "unfair" and amounted to "social engineering". Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, called it a "bribe" for couples to wed.

However, John Hayward, the director of The Jubilee Centre, a relationship charity, said: "The tax system is currently skewed against people who get married. Making marriage tax neutral would take away the disadvantage of getting married."

The Centre for Social Justice, the think tank founded by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, has strenuously argued that tax credit system makes it very difficult for young people, on a low income, to get married.

It has calculated that approximately 1.8 million low-earning couples are materially worse off than their single parent counterparts, losing on average £1,336 a year because they live together.

Samantha Callan, the think tank"s chairman, said: "Marriage is important because one in three couples who live together when a child is born split up before that child is five, compared to only one in 11 married couples.

"The couple penalty in the working tax credit is preventing lower income people from living together and getting married and Government indifference to this issue is a huge part of the problem."

Some, however, said the record low figures were not a reason to sound the death knell of marriage. Anastasia de Waal, a director of the think tank Civitas, said: "I am not depressed at all. What we are seeing is marriage is stronger than ever it"s just that couples are only choosing to marry at a time and method of their own choosing. People are no longer getting married because they want to live together.

"Marriage is valued. Why else would the divorce rate be falling?"

Not only is the average age of people marrying getting later, thanks to people"s second and third weddings. But so too has the age of first time marriage increased.

Fine, Reverend, Ill submit. But here are my new commandments...

By Bryony Gordon Published: 7:00AM GMT 16 Feb 2010

Rev Mark Oden last month called on the wives of his Kent congregation to submit to their men Photo: GETTY

Should you like a glimpse of what life was like in the Middle Ages, you could do worse than a visit to St Nicholas Church in Sevenoaks. There may not be bear-baiting or cockfighting, and thankfully the Black Death is no more, but the attitudes, particularly in regards to women, well, they are positively medieval.

In recent weeks, the clergy at St Nicholas have delivered a series of sermons that threaten to split the church. It all started with accusations that the rector, Rev Angus MacLeay, had handed out a leaflet which urged women to "remain silent" if "questions could legitimately be answered by their husbands".

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The matter was compounded when Rev Mark Oden last month called on the wives of the congregation to submit to their men. Their unwillingness to do this, he said, was partly to blame for the high divorce rates throughout the country. Women gasped; their husbands said: "pipe down love, and listen to what the man has to say (this last bit may or may not have happened). Unrepentant, Mr Oden delivered a Valentines Day sermon entitled "Marriage MoT", in which he conceded that his words "might not be palatable" but "we need to hear them". He insisted that he did not think women were "weaker intellectually". However, it was "an eternal principle that women are physically weaker than men."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mrs Oden has not made public her views on the debacle.

But the good clergymen of Stepford no, hang on, I mean Sevenoaks should be careful what they wish for. If they want us to submit, thats fine by me as long as they dont mind us living by the following commandments:

Thou shalt give up all property to your husband, Topshop frocks and all.

In the Middle Ages, the giving up of possessions happened in most marriages. So take my collection of Zara dresses, darling, and my 57 pairs of high heels. They might even suit you.

Thou shalt never have an opinion on anything.

At dinner parties, when your host asks what you think about David Camerons plans to cut the budget deficit, blush and giggle in a girlish manner. Say something along the lines of: "Gosh, I have absolutely no idea, but what I do know is that he wears really nice ties." Then retire to the kitchen to clear dishes and talk about fluffy kittens and curtain fabric.

Thou shalt never, ever utter the words "not tonight, darling Ive got a headache".

Provide sex on tap. In the morning, at night, and even during the day rock up at his office under the guise of providing him with some cookies you have baked and then lock him in the executive washroom. Exhaust him, until he realises that while he thinks about sex every ten seconds, he doesnt actually want to do it every ten seconds, the fool.

Thou shalt never be in a bad mood.

Thou shalt be happy, happy, happy, happy, even when the baby is crying and the dog has had an accident on the kitchen floor and the car alarm has gone off, all at the same time. Watch as husbands fury increases the more upbeat you become.

Thou shalt avoid all practical domestic chores.

Man is: carrier of things, changer of light bulbs, unblocker of lavatories, driver of cars, reader of maps, tuner of televisions, catcher of creepy crawlies, scrubber of steps, putter outer of rubbish bags, while woman sits looking pretty in marigolds, apron and full make-up.

Thou shalt not bring home the bacon.

I suppose if we are going to submit fully to the head of the house, then our menfolk wont be wanting us to go to work any more. Nor will we be expected to sort out the bills, the car insurance, or to contribute in any meaningful way. Fine. If thats what you really want, Reverend...

Dinner party recipes from Claire Macdonald

By Xanthe Clay Published: 7:05AM GMT 18 Feb 2010

Fail-safe and fuss-free: Isle of Skye based cookery writer Claire Macdonald with her husband Photo: LEWIS J HOUGHTON

"Maybe I should have married a Campbell," muses Lady Macdonald of Macdonald as she stirs a pan of olive-oil infused shallots and fennel. "I"d rather have been a tin of soup than a burger."

In fact, Lancashire-born Claire Macdonald has been happily married to Lord Macdonald of Macdonald (known as "Gog" to his wife) for 40 years. Thirty-seven of those have been spent running Kinloch Lodge on the banks of Loch na Dal on the Isle of Skye.

Twice-baked Parmesan and walnut souffl�s Italian sausage, fennel and roasted tomato gratin with cannellini beans Marmalade tart Ginger pastry Poached and roast clementines Return of the dinner party

It"s an isolated spot from which to build a reputation as a food writer, but Claire is nothing if not determined. As she shows me how to cook a stress-free dinner party in her huge kitchen-cum-cookery school, she explains: "I don"t think things fall into your lap. You have to work hard in life."

For 27 years, she was the only cook at Kinloch Lodge, where she built a loyal following. Now, Roux-trained chef Marcello Tully runs the restaurant, cooking the haute cuisine dishes that earned Kinloch a Michelin star last month.

Claire continues to run cookery classes, passing on her fail-safe recipes for delicious dishes as well as tips and advice. Emptying jars of cannellini beans into a sizzling pan of tomatoes, shallots and fennel, she explains: "Beans in jars are better than in cans. I don"t know why, they just are. And roasting the tomatoes before adding them to the mix is really worth the effort."

Her attitude to dinner parties is as comforting as she is. "You don"t want to impress people, you want scrummy food that you can do in advance. Nothing kills the atmosphere more than an exhausted host."

Kinloch Lodge, Sleat, Isle of Skye (01471 833333; www.kinloch-lodge.co.uk; www.claire-macdonald.com)xanthe.clay@telegraph.co.uk www.twitter.com/xanthecooks

Find wines to match at Telegraph Wine Shop

One in 10 pharmacies illicitly selling NHS drugs abroad

By Andrew Hough Published: 8:00AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

High street pharmacists are able to buy life-saving drugs at discounted rates negotiated by the NHS. Photo: AFP

A growing number of pharmacies as well as wholesalers, dispensing doctors and some NHS hospitals are profiting from the multi-million pound export trade, the research claimed.

The practice, which the government says is unethical, has lead to a shortage of about 40 drugs including treatment for cancer, high blood pressure, Parkinson"s and high cholesterol.

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The latest figures come after The Daily Telegraph disclosed last month that patients lives were being put at risk because pharmacies were illicitly selling NHS drugs to the Continent, leading to shortages in this country.

The trade, estimated to be worth about £30 million a month, has been made worse by favourable exchange rates which make British medicines cheaper for customers paying in euros.

Among some of the high-profile drugs that are experiencing a shortage include Arimidex and Femara, which are both used for breast cancer, Actonel tablets, for osteoporosis and cholesterol-lowering statins.

High street pharmacies are able to buy life-saving drugs at discounted rates negotiated by the NHS.

However, supplies are limited and stocks are being sold on the black market in European countries including Germany.

European trade legislation means that selling medicines is not technically against the law, but because drug manufacturers carefully ration the level of supplies they sell to individual chemists, the result is a growing shortage of drug

New research by IMS, a consultancy firm, suggests that as many as 11 per cent of the 12,600 UK pharmacies could be exporting drugs, along with a small proportion of dispensing doctors and some wholesalers.

Figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the body which grants EU export licences, show almost twice as many were granted this year.

More than 200 new licences were issued last year, bringing the total to almost 1400, 1,357, double what were approved the previous year.

This year, more than 100 applications have been approved for the licence, which costs £1,737.

Government guidance says the trade is unethical but ministers are powerless to stop it because it is legal for drugs to be traded into Britain from within the EU.

Mike O"Brien, the Minister of State for Health, has previously told The Daily Telegraph that ministers were becoming increasingly concerned that patients may die unless pharmacies stop this "unscrupulous" practise.

He has called a summit of those involved in the supply chain early next month.

Sandy Craine, founder of the CML Support Group UK, said: "This is a big problem and it needs to be sorted urgently."

John Turk, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, denied pharmacists were "cashing in".

"The vast majority of community pharmacists have nothing to do with exporting medicines," he said.

"In the face of shortages, they are putting in hours of extra work each day sourcing medicines to ensure timely supply to patients."

Neil Paton of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said he "did not recognise" the figure of one in ten pharmacies trading abroad.

A spokesman for the Department of Health told the Daily Mail that the legal and ethical duties of ensuring a "smooth supply" of NHS medicines had been made clear to the industry.

Sauce: wines for midweek suppers

By Susy Atkins Published: 9:00AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

Midweek wines: Old Man Creek Shiraz 2008; Sainsbury?s Californian Chardonnay NV; Casillero Del Diablo Shiraz Rose 2008

Three cheers for the home-made, midweek supper. How would we get through the dank weeks of late winter without chops, bangers or steamy stir-fries?

This year, thanks to a new bit of kit, Ive majored on slow-cooker classics such as beef braises and lamb tajines; other times its been toad-in-the-hole or roast root veg. Hearty, warming, no-nonsense meals eaten by the fire, and sometimes (whisper it) in front of the telly…

Restaurants: Culinary paradise found...in East Kent Sauce: light red wines for summer Sauce: wines to go with steak Sauce: lighter wines Sauce: Argentine wines

For a proper soothing supper, you must, of course, have a delicious wine to hand.

A comforting style, by which I mean ripe and rounded, not light and summery; head back to fragile wines when theres blossom on the trees. Midweek wine must be good value, of course, this being Tuesday, say, not Saturday. None of us is out to impress on a Tuesday, surely? We just want cheering up.

The best wines for the job come, unsurprisingly, from hot climates the South of France, Spain, Australia and California can offer especially keen prices on everyday wines. Pick a red grape with a smoky, peppery edge for extra "winter warmer points: shiraz/syrah, red zinfandel, tempranillo, grenache. Whites to be paired off with robustly flavoured fish or poultry dishes should be rich and creamy, possibly aged in oak for extra clout chardonnay, viognier and the riper chenin blancs, then.

Are pinks out of the question? Not at all, but I find gutsy New World ros is heaps better than wimpier Euro-pink for matching with, say, spicy prawns or a tomato pasta bake. No wimps are welcome at the midweek winter feast.

TRY THESE...

Old Man Creek Shiraz 2008, South-Eastern Australia (Marks & Spencer, £4.99)

Spice, leather and plain chocolate ooze out of this aromatic, rounded red. A true winter warmer for pairing with beef or lamb stews

(Or try Ashwell Valley Shiraz, from Telegraph Wine Shop)

Sainsburys Californian Chardonnay NV (£4.08)

For the price, this is a decent midweek white, with buttery depths and a fresh finish. Spot on for pan-fried salmon, garlic chicken or cream-based pasta sauce

(Or try Santa Isabel Torrontes Chardonnay 2009, from Telegraph Wine Shop)

Casillero Del Diablo Shiraz Rose 2008, Chile (widely available, £6.99)

Succulent, modern ros with plenty of red-berry juice and a peppery note. Drink with spicy prawns, vegetarian curries or a ginger and pork stir-fry

(Or try Arroyo de la Vega 2008 Tempranillo Rose, from Telegraph Wine Shop)

TIPPLE TIP light relief

"Tesco has launched what it claims is "the lightest ever wine bottle" in an attempt to reduce its glass use by 560 tons a year. The first of the new 300g bottles (most wine comes in 500g bottles) are being used for the chains own-label Australian non-vintage red. Can you feel the difference?

Get fantastic deals at Telegraph Wine Shop

FTSE 100 ends the week 4.2pc higher

By Ben Harrington, Markets Reporter Published: 6:30PM GMT 19 Feb 2010

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FTSE 100

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On Friday, Anders Nielsen, equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, noted that since he published his 2010 forecasts in December "some investors have raised concerns that these numbers are too optimistic".

So, Mr Nielsen felt obliged to "reiterate" his belief that the European market will see 38pc corporate earnings growth in 2010 and 28pc in 2011. This is because companies" "exposure to growth abroad will drive a recovery in earnings in line with that experienced coming out of past recessions".

Shares and Markets: News, charts, data Talk of Harbinger stake in African Minerals Talk of Aviva selling its back book business Water companies cant wash away FTSEs rise Miners lift FTSE for a bullish end to the week Barclays earnings power helps dodge sell-off

The blue-chip index gained 33.08 points to 5358.17 during Friday"s session. Elsewhere, the FTSE 250 put on 46.09 points to 9431.36.

Shire leapt to the top of the leaderboard after its full-year results beat market expectations. Dealers were surprised the company reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher sales of Vyvanse, its drug treating attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Meanwhile, Shire"s division that produces drugs for rare genetic diseases benefited from problems at rival Genzyme. Shire"s shares hit a nine-year high, rising 60p to £13.70.

Banks continued to be in demand on renewed talk investors are switching out of European rivals and into British banks. Royal Bank of Scotland edged 0.7 higher to 34p and Barclays rose 3.9 to 312p as Evolution raised its price target to 482p from 448p.

BT Group, which was heavily sold off on Thursday, rallied 2.8 to 118.6p following positive comments from Fitch, the ratings agency. Although Fitch said BT"s £9bn pension deficit is "undoubtedly a negative factor for group deleveraging", the pension deficit payments can be absorbed by the group"s operational cashflow in the short to medium term.

Traders, though, took defensive positions after a strong week for the riskier stocks. Imperial Tobacco perked up 45p to £20.80 and National Grid rose 13 to 650p.

Mining companies were the laggards as the dollar strengthened following the Federal Reserve"s decision to increase the discount rate for banks. Precious metal producers fared the worst. For example, Mexican silver miner Fresnillo lost 11 to 774p and gold specialist Randgold Resources shed 66p to £46.99.

However, Cluff Gold, the Aim-listed gold mining company, bucked the trend after it confirmed it had received an approach from a potential bidder. Randgold is rumoured to be the purchaser. Cluff surged 9 to 71p.

Among the base metal produders, Vedanta Resources slipped 6p to £25.54 despite an upgrade to "overweight" from HSBC. "Vedanta offers the highest growth potential in our universe, which in our view is not yet reflected in valuation," said Thorsten Zimmermann, analyst at HSBC.

On the mid-tier, Morgan Crucible bounced 16.8 to 186.3p on the back of a "buy" note from Goldman Sachs. "We believe the company is well positioned to benefit from a cyclical recovery in its end markets and that concerns over the outlook for [its subsidiary] NP Aerospace are more than discounted in the current share price," said Tim Rothery, analyst at Goldman Sachs.

In the leisure sector, Millenium & Copthorne Hotels jumped 41.2 10.9pc to 417p after its fourth-quarter profits beat expectations.

On a more speculative tack, bid talk lifted Connaught, the property services company, 8.2 to 326.1p.

However, VT Group slipped 11 to 648p as analysts began to rule out the possibility of the prospect of a counter-bid.

Tiger Woods unlikely to play in this years Masters as he puts family first

By Mark Reason Published: 10:11PM GMT 19 Feb 2010

Link to this video

The man who invented a whole new cookery book of golf shots, little sautees and hot tumblers, appears to have thrown golf out with the leftovers. It now seems highly unlikely that he will play in this year"s Masters.

The news is as shocking as Roger Federer zipping up his racket bag for a year or Wayne Rooney throwing his football boots into the back of the cupboard. The greats of sport are obsessed with what they do.

Tiger Woods said nothing, but with great sincerity Woods was clearly petrified Fellow players supportive of Woods Tiger Woods scandal Tiger Woods "deeply sorry" for affairs Tiger Woods can be a "wonderful playboy"

Jack Nicklaus did not win 18 majors without having golf balls for brains, thousands of them spinning around inside his head, every second of every day. Sport might leave men such as Andre Agassi sobbing on the floor of the changing room, but they cannot cut the addiction. It is who they are.

But almost 10 minutes had elapsed before Woods even cast a sideways look at his return to the game. He said: "I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don"t know when that day will be. I don"t rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behaviour more respectful of the game."

Those words might have been a nod to the likes of Tom Watson, who had asked Woods to show more respect for golf"s traditions, but they will also send a cold shiver down the spines of the TV networks who are desperate for the viewing figures that Woods brings to the game.

In the lead-up to the address it had been speculated that Arnold Palmer would introduce Woods and that he would announce a return at next month"s Tavistock Cup. Instead Woods seems to have scratched his name from the starter"s sheet. Where Palmer was supposed to stand there was just a void.

The Masters without Tiger will be like Manchester United without Fergie. The place echoes with his deeds the chip that hovered on the edge of the hole and dropped like a sign from God in 2005 or the tearful embrace with "pops" eight years earlier when Woods won his first green jacket by a record 12 shots.

Woods also reacted angrily to what has been written about his association with Dr Tony Galea. The old Woods briefly flared when he said: "Some people have made things up. They said I used performance-enhancing drugs. This is completely and utterly false."

Sir Nick Faldo cannot believe that Woods is walking away. Faldo said: "Tiger said actions speak louder the words and I would have thought the most obvious action would be to scoop up the whole family, you"ve got a private plane, plenty of wealth to have tutors and nannies and come back on tour.

"His whole world has been golf. His whole world is created by golf and if he doesn"t get back to golf then you would assume he doesn"t have a world. He"s chasing Jack"s records and that"s what"s created his wealth."

But Woods no longer lives in Faldo"s world. The Englishman had no trouble hitting one more straight drive as another marriage crumbled around him. The problem for Woods is that the two main wires in his body have come into contact and blown the system.

He cannot play golf and save his family. Yet these were the two mantras of his life: golf and family, family and golf. When Woods came through those plush blue curtains something had to give and it is golf.

We saw a different Woods to the smart alec who has put people down these past few years. Now Tiger is down. There was no room for his glib one-liners. He had to come across as a changed man who was fighting for his family.

There were moments of excruciating stage management that we could have done without. The look straight to camera whenever he said sorry and the hand on the heart when talking of family belonged in an episode of an afternoon soap opera.

But it has certainly played with parts of America. When he said: "For all that I"ve done, [stage direction: swallow, look to camera, dissolve] I"m sorry," two women ran weeping from the press centre. Another came over with tears in her eyes and asked if we were crying.

We were. We were crying tears of helpless laughter. Even the most stone-hearted man could not have failed to have been moved. And yet having watched Woods perform for so many years, I believe that a lot of the acting was to help him get through his speech. And I believe he was sincere.

What he has done is unprecedented. What other sportsman has walked away from the game at the peak of their career to try to save their family? It is a rare, rare thing that borders on the heroic. It may make Woods a fool in the long run, we shall find out, but it makes him a heroic fool.

He looked into the future and saw an endless golf course without any kids. He could choose golf and Nicklaus"s record and lose his kids, or he could try to save his family. Yesterday Woods put on a penitent performance in an effort to save his family.

He will never be the same man on the golf course again. Men he used to look down on have now seen Woods grovel. They will no longer fear the red shirt on the final day. They will feel better about themselves.

Woods has lost the intimidation factor for ever, but yesterday may just have made his will and self belief even stronger. He talked about the "need to regain my balance and be centred", of rediscovering his Buddhist path. When he eventually comes back he may just be better than ever, but the others will no longer fear him.

----------------------

What has been said

"For an apology to be successful it has to be believed. Tiger Woods said sorry in such a controlled environment that many people are bound to ask, "does he really mean it?" He would have been better to face a hostile press conference and take it all on the chin, even if it meant having to answer - or refuse to answer - some very difficult and embarrassing questions.

"He admitted that he did what he did because he thought he could live life on his own terms. But now he apologises on his own terms too. It doesn"t quite ring true. And it was stupid to alienate others in the sport by allowing his statement to clash with an important tournament."

Lance Price - former special advisor to Tony Blair and author of "Where Power Lies"

-----------------

"Hes not a gifted public speaker. It was over-rehearsed and wooden, I thought Gordon Brown was better in his interview last week, which tells you how lamentable Tiger was. Youve got to remember that hes a pretty gauche fellow, all hes ever done is chase these ludicrous white balls across the greensward.

"Im glad of one thing, he didnt play the Im a sex addiction card. Theres no such thing as sex addiction. This is just compulsive behaviour. Were all potentially greedy, wed love to have our hands in the cookie jar regardless of the consequences. But now, after all those apologies, hell have nowhere to turn if he strays again. The more severely high you set the bar, the more temptation you expose yourself to."

Phillip Hodson, fellow of the BACP and Britains first agony uncle

---------------------

"I think he did really well. This was the first good move in a disastrous PR campaign. I expect that he will be attacked by journalists, but in terms of the public, most people will feel that he came across as someone who was sincere, who regretted what hed done, and who took the blame on himself.

"As a PR exercise, it doesnt bear comparison with John Terrys Dubai fiasco. That one was excruciatingly embarrassing, but this one was the right tone, the right presentation, and I think it will help to move things forward. Of course, he shouldnt have been here in the first place.

"A good PR would have made sure it never came out. Theres a lot of stars that have been far more active than he is and no-one dreams of it."

Max Clifford, public relations expert

------------------

"It was an amazing performance. If he had been a professional actor he couldnt have done it much better, he seemed very contrite and very serious. Some of the people who are criticising him are divorced Tom Watson, for instance. Some of our greatest stars, like Warren Beatty, make Tiger look like a celibate priest.

"The old saying that an erection has no conscience is very true. You have to be a very remarkable person, if youre chatted up by an attractive woman in the right circumstances, to say no.

"You know, the furore over the abdication in 1936 couldnt have been any greater than this. I wouldnt have thought a sportsman could have created such a great deal of publicity for his misdemeanours. Sometimes Im glad I live in a timewarp."

Peter Alliss, BBC golf commentator

Where in the world?

Published: 4:32PM GMT 17 Feb 2010

Previous of Images Next Tell us the location of this photograph for the chance to win a luxury suitcase Photo: CORBIS The winner will receive a Briggs & Riley carry-on suitcase worth £299. To purchase Briggs & Riley products visit www.johnlewis.com

These limestone formations, known as The Pinnacles, are found north of a state capital city that sits on the Swan River. Fremantle lies to the south. Name the city.

Quiz: test your travel knowledge Where in the world: terms and conditions

HOW TO ENTER

To enter, send the answer (with your name, address and telephone number) to: whereintheworld@telegraph.co.uk

The winner will receive a 20in Briggs & Riley (01491 642333; www.briggs-riley.com) carry-on upright suitcase in olive, worth £299. The case carries an unconditional lifetime warranty that includes airline damage. The first correct entry drawn at random will be the winner. Entries close at 4pm on Wednesday, Feb 24.

Click here for terms and conditions

The answer to the last quiz is Riga. S Castle of Strood, Kent, wins the suitcase.

The murder of al-Mabhouh is an insult to our intelligence

By Con Coughlin Published: 6:37AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

Comments 118 |

Attempts by Avigdor Lieberman, Israel"s foreign minister, to distance his country from the affair have hardly been convincing Photo: AFP

It is difficult to summon much sympathy for Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas military commander who was smothered to death in his Dubai hotel room by a mysterious team of tennis-playing assassins.

Before he met his end, the 50-year-old topped the list of Israel"s most-wanted terrorists. As one of the founder members of the Izzedine al-Qassem brigades, the military wing of Hamas, he had a well-documented track record of involvement in terrorist activities, from the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 (which explains why he fled to Syria soon afterwards) to smuggling arms from Iran to Gaza. It is as a result of al-Mabhouh"s activities that Hamas today is in possession of a stockpile of Iranian-made missiles that could inflict devastation on Israel.

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As the saying goes in the Middle East, he who lives by terrorism ultimately becomes its victim. And the praise heaped on Mossad, Israel"s foreign intelligence service, by the country"s jubilant media tells you all you need to know about who was ultimately responsible for al-Mabhouh"s death. "Impressive and crowned with success," proclaimed the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, while the Jerusalem Post confidently predicted that Meir Dagan, the hawkish head of Mossad, would not lose his job over the affair.

If there was any doubt about Israel"s involvement, the country"s media would be the first to proclaim its innocence. Indeed, details of the Mossad connection were first published in Britain by an Israeli journalist three weeks ago, but no one thought any more of it until the Dubai authorities made their revelations about the possible involvement of British passport holders. Subsequent attempts by Avigdor Lieberman, Israel"s foreign minister, to distance his country from the affair have hardly been convincing: given the operation"s sophistication, with a team of 11 highly trained agents fulfilling a range of roles, it is difficult to imagine any of the region"s other intelligence services having the nous or the resources to carry out such a daring mission.

Most Israelis, of course, would argue that al-Mabhouh"s murder was not an act of terrorism, but an act of war, and that he was a legitimate target for a programme of assassination that has liquidated scores of Hamas activists, from the wheelchair-bound cleric Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to Hamas"s legendary bomb-maker Yihyeh Ayash, aka "The Engineer". I doubt there are any Israelis who will mourn the passing of a commander of an organisation that is committed to their nation"s destruction.

There will, though, be some who will question the methods used, and in particular whether it was wise to forge the passports of British citizens to protect the identities of the hit squad. Mr Dagan who I think we can safely assume organised al-Mabhouh"s murder has something of a reputation as an adventurer. During his seven years at the helm of Mossad, he has unleashed Israel"s assassination squads in Gaza, Lebanon and, most spectacularly, Syria, where they succeeded two years ago in killing Imad Mugniyeh, the terrorist mastermind responsible for blowing up the American embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in the early 1980s.

As in the al-Mabhouh killing, Mossad and the rest of the Israeli security establishment refrained from claiming any credit for Mugniyeh"s death, even though, as Hizbollah"s chief military planner in southern Lebanon, he posed a tangible threat to the security of Israel"s borders.

Al-Mabhouh"s activities constituted a similar threat but the crucial difference between the two operations is that the only people outraged by the car bomb that killed Mugniyeh were his Syrian and Iranian protectors, while Mossad"s modus operandi for al-Mabhouh is threatening a major rift with one of Israel"s key European allies.

The attitude of most Israelis towards Britain is coloured by their memories of the mandate period immediately after the Second World War, when the perfidious British were accused of trying to prevent impoverished Jewish immigrants many of them survivors of the Holocaust from establishing a state of their own. For that reason Israeli officials in Jerusalem are always happy to point out that British criticism of their policy is largely irrelevant, as the power to dictate the destiny of the Middle East today lies in Washington, not London.

Relations between the two countries have been soured more recently by the British Government"s decision to insist that Israeli produce from the occupied West Bank be clearly identified as such, a move denounced as tantamount to a boycott.

But despite these difficulties, Britain and Israel have established close intelligence co-operation. Apart from working together to prevent Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks, intelligence officials have set up a partnership to deal with the threat posed by Iran"s nuclear programme. And it is this that is now in jeopardy as a result of Mossad"s cavalier disregard for British sensibilities. At the very least, Mossad could have had the decency to use fake passports, as it did with its Irish documents, rather than stealing the identities of those British citizens currently resident in Israel.

Perhaps Mr Dagan was trying to make a point that Britain needs Israel"s co-operation on intelligence matters more than Israel needs Britain"s. If so, he is likely to find he has made a grave miscalculation. Britain has cut its ties with Mossad in the past after its London station chief carelessly mislaid a sackful of forged British passports and will do so again unless Israel can provide a credible defence of its actions.

Letters from economists wont reduce the UK deficit

Published: 9:12PM GMT 19 Feb 2010

Comments 17 | Comment on this article

Who said the art of letter writing was dying? The week began with a letter from 20 economists and it ended with a pair of missives from 67 practitioners of the dismal science. For good measure, we even had a midweek note from the Governor of the Bank of England to the Chancellor explaining why the consumer prices index has spiked. Are we any the wiser for this flurry of epistolary activity? Leaving aside the Governor"s letter (as ever, it was refreshingly analytical rather than political), probably not.

For this slightly unedifying spectacle the "my list of signatories is longer than yours" boasts are already being bandied about is party warfare by proxy. The original 20 broadly supported the Conservative view that deficit reduction must start now, while yesterday"s double-barrelled riposte favours the government stance that the recovery is too fragile to contemplate spending cuts yet. It would take a Jonathan Swift to milk the full satirical potential of massed ranks of economists taking potshots at each across the letters columns of newspapers. Entertaining though it is, it does not signify a great deal. We are witnessing not so much the clash of big ideas as angels dancing on the head of a pin.

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As Jeremy Warner argues on this page, the reality is that neither party has a great deal of scope for doing much about the deficit in 2010, even if it wanted to. Serious budget cuts cannot be effected at the flick of a switch. What is needed are credible plans for future years. That is what the markets are looking for and so are business leaders. They want some clarity about the likely trajectory of debt reduction in the medium to long term. The Government says it will halve the deficit in the lifetime of a parliament, in our view a disappointingly unambitious target. The Tories, in contrast, say they will pay down the "bulk" of the deficit in that timescale a position backed, incidentally, by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King. What they have been unwilling to say is how they will achieve this. Paradoxically, each camp can use January"s shocking borrowing figures to justify their positions.

The imminence of a general election is imposing a baleful influence. The Government is determined not to offend its public-sector clientele before polling day and will therefore keep the spending spigot open. The Tories, meanwhile, have been sounding a worryingly uncertain note. In his party conference speech last October David Cameron talked candidly about the tough choices that lay ahead. Yet within weeks the party was rowing back from that position, no doubt alarmed at the negative feedback from the focus groups.

In other words, it is the politics of the deficit, rather than its reduction, that has been dominant. It was no coincidence that within hours of yesterday"s letters appearing, the Prime Minister rounded on the "well-financed Right-wing" that is trying to "scare people into accepting a bleak and austere picture of the future". This is clearly not going to be an election campaign for the fastidious. Mr Brown"s attempt to depict himself as the only man who can secure the recovery will, however, ring hollow among those who largely blame him for getting us into this mess in the first place.

Even so, dealing with the deficit continues to present a formidable challenge to the Conservatives. We believe they are being more honest in stressing the scale of the threat and the need to start tackling it now. Yet they remain too tentative. The higher rate of tax is going up in a few weeks, the very last thing the economy needs just now. But, of course, that increase is not designed to raise revenue, rather to put the Tories on the spot and it is working. In refusing to commit itself to scrapping the tax rise, the Opposition is displaying a lack of conviction that it may come to rue in the election campaign.