I for one wish Gordon and Sarah Brown all the best regarding the illness of their younger son Fraser. The news that the lad has cystic fibrosis makes me realise just how lucky I've been never to have had this sort of debilitating illness - the publicity has made me more aware of what cf is about though.

But what bothers me is the media's attitude to what is essentially a private and personal matter. I understand that it was the lead story on the BBC 10 o'clock news yesterday evening. Was it really THE most important news of the day? I can't really believe that! It could be argued that to know a little bit more about the life of possibly our next Prime Minister is no bad thing but this is way over the top. I would have placed this story about half way through that news programme. But we are now so obsessed with the private lives of celebrities be they politicians, football players, third rate pop stars, whoever. Rant over for today.