If Only

President Sarkozy's strict diet was blamed for his collapse whilst running in the grounds of the Château de Versailles.

After a cabinet meeting, M Sarkozy had a simple explanation for what happened:

''I ran out of petrol. I want to tell the French that my health is good. I am a human being, I got tired. Was it due to dehydration, to heat, to tiredness? I don't know. I've run thousands of times like that without anything at all going wrong. I'm always careful about what I eat, the way I nourish myself and I will continue like that.''

After a 21-hour stay in Val-de-Grâce military hospital, in Paris, where he underwent a series of cardiovascular tests and was given a clean bill of health, he said:

''I simply need to rest.''

He is due to begin a three week holiday with Madame Bruni Sarkozy, at her home on the French Riviera this week.

Just think how lovely it would be to have an elected leader, who publishes his health condition and medication, who goes running in the grounds of Versailles, and holidays on the Riviera, without rebuke or resentment. With the lovely First Lady of France. At their own expense.

Why do we end up with Jimmy Brown, in ill-fitting crumpled cotton trousers, in a rain-washed, chilly landscape, lying about his health and medication, with a prime minister's wife, who hasn't got a home to go to unless we pay for it?