Values: An Immensely Malleable Concept

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is visiting Britain this week. Fine. These are people we need to be able to do business with, however much one might wish it otherwise. But that's no excuse for a minister of the crown to embarrass himself like this:

On Monday, Foreign Office minister Kim Howells called for Britain and Saudi Arabia to work more closely together, despite their differences.

He said the two states could unite around their "shared values".