For self-proclaiming civilised nations to retain this higher platform, their claims on this civility must be intertwined with an equitable method of dealing with all other people, regardless of their origin and community structures. Our very own leader, Tony Blair, has failed abominably to live up to this ideal. The direction in which he has taken his government, in particular when dealing with the less fortunate and war torn nations leaves the notion of being ‘civilised’ less than a desirable goal for the rest of us.

On the nuclear weapons front, Mr Blair is said to be gravely concerned with the nuclear proliferation ambitions of North Korea and Iran. The depth of his ‘concerns’ means that both sanctions and military assaults are both probable. That’s the rule for those two uncivilised nations, while in Britain he is enveloping himself under the mushroom of warm accolades for proposing to replace Britain’s nuclear WMD at a staggering cost of £15bn. Apparently nuclear weapons are only the toys of the civilised nations, of whom Israel is clearly one, as there is not a whisper of disapproval about the Middle East’s only stockpile.

On military arms, Mr Blair’s government promised to pursue an ethical foreign policy to reflect our ethical nation which abhors violence, corruption and bribery. Yet British produced parts and weapons are being used against some of the world’s most disadvantaged people from Africa to the Far East.

It is probably true to say that throughout the globe many dictators, fiefdoms and highway men are holding onto power; courtesy of our weapons. Let us not forget that the disastrous invasion of Iraq was to check dictator Saddam’s WMD, which we supplied him to begin with. The BAE fraud inquiry involving Saudi Arabia’s £43bn order is shocking not only because Mr Blair seems to want to cover the tracks for the oil rich kingdom, but also because the Saudi’s are heavily criticised at every opportunity on almost every front, both internally and externally.

Clearly, while the Saudi’s have their golden cheque book, they are an ally of Mr Blair. And once the oil runs dry, perhaps there will be an invasion to stop the ‘misuse’ of these weapons, in favour of civility? Maybe the argument will be in favour of democracy, which we must acknowledge, the Middle East lacks on most fronts. However, recent experience has shown that there are different brands of democracy and not all are acceptable.

Mr Blair was one of the first to jump on the bandwagon of imposing sanctions against the Palestinians to unrelentlessly punish them for voting in Hamas. He now audaciously supports Mahmud Abass’ call for an early and unwarranted election, knowing full well it is a political coup. No doubt there will be consecutive and subsequent elections until the ‘civilised’ nations get the Palestinian government of their choice.

While he may be forgiven if this was an isolated incident, Mr Blair also boasts allies such as Pakistan’s General Musharaf – named President by our leader, but not voted for by his own people. Not to mention President Mubarak of Egypt and the Gulf leaders who simply do not bother about elections or human rights of their people for that matter.

Armed with friends like these around the world, there is clear hypocrisy in Mr Blair’s ascension up the ladder of civility and proclaimed righteousness as the human right abuses of his friends are clearly erased from his consciousness. If Mr Blair has any dreams of walking into a self-created post of international statesman, fire fighting around the globe; in light of his history, this post should rightly last only a fraction of the years that he has managed to cling on to power as a prime minister. His ethical policy appears to carry a price tag; his democratic credentials are wrapped in vested interest; his concerns are duplicitous and his justice is discriminatory. In effect he has yet to reflect the civility of his nation.