When you hear people who have been forced to flee their homes, seen their loved ones killed in front of them, and much of this has been done by their government, it is truly shocking. They have given me incredibly powerful testimony.

I am both impressed and pleased that David Cameron has made this trip today. He has talked about the tragedy that has unfolded in Darfur many times before. For up to 400,000 people to have been massacred in this way whilst the world community has looked on is indefensible. Particularly from a world community that said only a few years ago “never again” following the Rwandan crisis.

David Cameron has rightly stated that the British forces are already fully committed elsewhere and hence could not contribute to any multi-national force in the Sudanese region. The sad reality is that since post-war Iraq, the majority of Western populations would, I suspect, be disinclined to support any intervention with troops, particularly within an Islamic-controlled state. It would appear that the invasion of Iraq could have indirectly cost the lives of innocent Africans.

Many comparisons have been made between Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher. By chance, the first anniversary of Ms Merkel’s accession to the German Chancellorship coincides with the sixteenth anniversary of Mrs Thatcher’s departure from Number 10. Ms Merkel’s foreign profile appears to have been more of a success in her first year than her domestic one. This may reflect the difficulties of the ‘grand coalition’. It may, however, be a sign of good things to come. A tough start on the domestic scene that grows into unrivalled success over the next five years. If that turns out to be the case, then Ms Merkel’s career in high level politics will not have started much differently from Mrs Thatcher’s. Remember, it was not Britain who named her the ‘Iron Lady’.

In 2005 Time magazine named him as one of the most influential men in the world. Only sworn in as an Illinois Senator in January 2005, Barack Obama has had a meteoric climb in the 2008 Presidential stakes. His back story reveals he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1991, where he was the first African-American to edit Harvard Law Review. He then practiced civil-rights law, representing victims of housing and employment discrimination and working on voting-rights legislation. It may be too soon for the Illinois Senator to be considered Presidential, however, he will be 47 years old in 2008, actually four years older than JFK was in 1960…

Africa’s health and social problems are numerous. Poor life expectancy, poor health in general and disastrous economic performance are a few of the reasons why having being born African leads to a very challenging life. There is, however, perhaps a more positive view of African demographics.

The World Bank’s recent World Development Report 2007 (found here) has suggested that younger populations, such as Uganda, have a “demographic window of opportunity“. That is, the size of the working-age generation is significantly larger compared to global averages than other more dependent age groups. In contrast, Western European Nations, particularly Italy, have an increasing pensions bill and a reducing working-age population. If Africa can harness that potential advantage and the rest of the world provides equal access to markets requiring labour-intensive products (primarily, agricultural), the future for Africa may be more positive. The European Union has a moral duty to reform the Common Agricultural Policy now.

An improvement on our last outing, however, the only way was up. Micah Richards may prove to be the right back we have been looking for – strong, fast, effective in attack. Rooney continues to improve at international level, albeit slowly. I remain confident that we will qualify for the Euro Championships in 2008. Being deluded about your team’s potential is part of the qualification of a true England fan………