Dear Comrade Lula

Very nice to see you enjoying yourself in Britain. Shame the weather was a bit crap, but then if you wanted a good holiday, you should have travelled somewhere warmer! Hopefully that prat Mr Blair didn't scare you away - the Prime Minister gets a bit excited when the cameras turn towards him. Still, you seemed to get on rather well. I must say it was nice to hear that Brazil believes in "the crucial importance of democracy".

Did you know that Mr Blair's government, which holds an absolute majority of seats, enjoys the backing of only one in five eligible voters? Eighty percent of the electorate didn't vote for a Labour Party candidate or sitting MP in the 2005 general election. Wow, makes you think, huh? Oh well. The will of the people can't be questioned, I suppose. Preserving freedom and democracy is probably too important a matter to be left to the people.

It was also heart-warming to hear of the mutual commitment our two countries share in fighting "poverty, injustice and exclusion" and of recognising the importance of "peace, security, human rights and social justice". Personally I didn't know the United Kingdom was committed to any of those, considering all the wars we've been fighting and all the people we've banged up in jail without even the possibility of a fair trial. Not to mention rising inequality and unemployment.

Don't get me wrong - all the talk of "shaping sustainable development, eradicating poverty, promoting social inclusion and improving quality of life" very welcome. As an internationalist, I'd like to see a lot more of you in the future. Just be sure to watch your cutlery whenever Mr Blair comes round for dinner.

Yours sincerely,
Dan