SO Gordon Brown came back from his visit to meet Barack Obama in Washington to be met with sneers about how all he was given in his party bag was a box of 25 DVDs.

Well, what’s wrong with that? Firstly, I would love to be given a gift of 25 DVDs – including such classic movies as The Godfather, On The Waterfront and Some Like It Hot.

Secondly, Gord gave Barack a pen holder, a framed picture of HMS Resolute and seven-volume biography of Churchill. Just what he always wanted?

And thirdly, much as I love most things about the USA, we shouldn’t forget that the box of DVDs isn’t the only thing that America has given us recently.

As a result of subprime mortgage loans to people who then defaulted on payments, the USA was also largely responsible for giving us the credit crunch.

So thank you very much. Next time, perhaps, Gordon should consider giving them a present from Woolworths…

An email exhorting the benefits of Viagra that circulated around Bournemouth council staff was the subject of concern this week. Surely the only erectile dysfunctions in Bournemouth worth such scrutiny were the planning decisions that gave rise to the Imax?

Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole has been whining about the paparazzi taking pictures of him when he was drunk, while his wife Cheryl Cole is away climbing Africa’s highest mountain. Why on earth was he surprised? Her achievement is to scale, for charity, Kilimanjaro. And his achievement? To be Silly Man at the Bar-o.