I'm sure it's not a new phenomenon for a delegation of business leaders to accompany politicians on state visits but Camerons's trip to China felt particularly like he was little more than a pimp. Given the multi million pound contract that Rolls Royce secured I wonder if these companies have to pay for the privilege of accompanying the Prime Minister given the potential rewards on offer and if not how do you get an invite as I fancy a holiday. Other than making a few introductions it is hard to see what Cameron himself achieved for the UK aside from some mumbling about human rights which he was obliged to do and which the Chinese authorities politely entertained before completely ignoring by sentencing Zhao Linhai to two and a half years  for inciting social disorder after complaining about the tainted milk that made many children, including his own, ill.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s3063001.htm

It's probably still too early to comment on the Zulqarnain Haider case as I feel there a few developments yet to be revealed, suffice to say whilst some commentators question his methods of fleeing Dubai and claim asylum in London rather than report any match fixing through the proper channels are understandable the extenuating circumstances may be genuine. If, as claimed, he and his family have received death threats then that may cause some panic as you put those you love first, although the asylum claims do seem strange as they tend to be in cases where the individual is running from the state. As far I know the threats were from illegal bookmakers not the Pakistan state.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davidbond/2010/11/mystery_continues_in_haider_af.html

Domestically a few daytime sit com moments especially when Anna baby sat yesterday afternoon whilst Alison went for an interview. The door handle broke on the living room door trapping her and Bethany in the front room. A few phone calls for help resulted in Paul coming round who was luckily off work and who unscrewed the handle and freed the Darlo 2. Aside from that Bethany is gaining great amusement by helping with the laundry - by which I mean each time I hang an item on the clothes horse she takes it back off. As she can only reach the smaller items on the bottom we generally have a trail of socks and knickers around the dining room just after the washing machine has finished. This morning, however, Bethany tried wearing them and spent much of this morning with a pair of pink knickers over her head. She at least found this hilarious.