SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

(Left) A Hero (Right) A Toady

An unarmed British policeman who held on to an Al-Qaeda suspect to stop him escaping even when the man stabbed him repeatedly in the side, has been refused a posthumous bravery award.

A UK government committee decided that Special Branch detective Stephen Oake, aged 40, a father-of-three from Manchester, had acted 'spontaneously' and that it was not an act of calculated bravery. They refused to recommend him for a George Cross, Britain's highest civilian award for gallantry.

This was despite the fact that the murder trial judge in the case of the suspect Kamel Bourgass said that what Oake did was exceptional.

The judge said: "That resolute attempt to escape was foiled only because of the professionalism and bravery of a number of police officers - bravery which cost Stephen Oake his life."

And during the trial, Oake's colleagues repeatedly gave evidence that they owed their lives to his action.

Bourgass was convicted of murder and conspiracy to use poisons and explosives.

Now British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is always giving fine speeches about 'The War on Terror' and is very happy to put other Britons into dangerous situations around the world, has reportedly decided he will not intervene.

And who was the man who headed the committee that turned down the medal request?

Step forward Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.

And how did 'Sir' Gus get his knighthood? Cabinet Secretaries get them automatically, although his climb up the greasy Whitehall pole included a stint as press secretary to former Prime Minister John Major and as an adviser to British finance minister Gordon Brown.

Oh and 'Sir' Gus is also a keen Manchester United fan, even though he was born and brought up in south London.

Enough said.