The uncharacteristic, unrelenting and excessive heat that has been hovering over my little part of England for several weeks now has somewhat taken it’s toll on my humour. Don’t get me wrong; as anyone who knows me can confirm, I live for the summer months and spend the long winters craving warmth and sunshine and light evenings, but even I concede that this has been a little too much for a little too long. It has been hard to get to bed much before 2am yet I still awake fairly early. I have enjoyed lazing in the sun with a good book but have not really been able to face anything serious.

All this is just my way of saying that I have not been posting much lately and that is part of the reason. Lethargy, apathy and sitting in front of whirling fans trying to keep cool. There is also another reason.

I have felt great shame over the last two weeks to be British. Whilst it’s true that Tony Blair does not represent my political views, anything this government does – or doesn’t do – still reflects on my country as a whole and my disagreement with foreign policy does not change the view of us within the wider world. And I fear that view, already tarnished and tainted, has just taken another step in the wrong direction. And to be honest, I’ve been sitting in the heat seething with anger and just getting hotter – not really knowing how to put that into words.