The BBC have been in touch asking if I would be interested in joining the panel on the next Big Questions programme, featuring lively debates on moral issues.

One possible subject would be the ever-fascinating subject of Homosexuality in Africa – as looked at briefly by me here. And here.

Check out this interesting Guardian piece by Madeleine Bunting which tries to ‘put the issue in context’, prompting an avalanche of comments for and against.

I alas had to decline the BBC request – already booked for a distinguished luncheon engagement next Sunday. But I suggested to them that they might try to break the question down to more manageable issues:

  • should Western societies take a view on homosexuality in Africa?
  • if we do take a view and decide that we want to influence things in a more liberal (by our lights) direction, what sort of policies are likely to work and what are not?

Iain Dale has quickly been on the case, getting a speedy and (I think) sensibly cautious reply from our new DFID Minister Andrew Mitchell:

But we should beware appeals for us to make aid a political weapon. Malawi is a desperately poor country, where about 40% of the people live on less than 34p a day. Britain’s aid plays a vital role in reducing this poverty.

We must not let down the people of Malawi. Rest assured, we, and our major international partners, will make urgent representations to the government of Malawi to review its laws to ensure it meets its commitments to human rights.

And this conviction will remain firmly in our minds when we negotiate the way we deliver our aid in future.

Mind you, it is one thing to wag our censorious finger at little Malawi.

Nigeria is something else.