The abiding story of the first three days of the Convention has been unity. Before the weekend, as I reported yesterday, Hillary Clinton's most ardent supporters were pushing for a roll call vote to mug Obama of his nomination; Clinton's speech settled some nerves but a number of commentators felt that it didn't go far enough with Clinton failing to countenance her earlier claims that Obama was not ready to be Commander in Chief. Even yesterday, a few - primarily white women over 50 - were parading up Denver's main drag in Hillary t-shirts parading signs saying, 'Smart Choice' and 'Party Unity My Arse.'

After a triumphant opening night in which Michelle Obama gave a candid, moving and fluent speech, the baton passed on Tuesday evening to Hillary Clinton. The once presumptive nominee faced a tricky task of masking her own disappointment but avoiding any accusations of disunity. She did so in true style declaring, "I'm a proud supporter of Barack Obama."

The genius of the Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi was, as Norman Geras observed , to use ‘common experience to illuminate the experience of the Nazi universe of death, and vice versa'.

I've been a member of the Labour party for more than a decade, and yet, despite the four ‘elected' leaders we've had in Scotland, this is the first leadership contest I've had any say in.

The National Policy forum in its wisdom has voted to recommend to Labour party conference that reducing the voting age to 16 be in the next Labour manifesto. This has started a lively debate in the party and the country at large - one that we should all welcome and get on board with.

Finlandisation is back. During the cold war the term described those states which had a formal independence but existed in barely disguised servitude to Moscow. Finland, noted Jean-Francois Revel in his 1983 book How Democracies Perish, ‘preserved the inviolability of its territory, what was left of it, and the right to live privately in a non-totalitarian society’ but was forbidden to accept Marshall Plan aid, join the EEC or sign trade agreements with Europe. It took its orders from Moscow in foreign policy.

It's silly season in Washington as it is in the UK. Congress, like Parliament, is in recess; without Suffolk as an option, Barack Obama has gone to Hawaii on holiday to spend time with his family; and the newspapers are full of stories about pets and properties. But the election coverage continues and the big story, or rather question, is why Obama has not yet opened a significant lead over John McCain.

Isn't it great to see Britain's athletes bringing home the Olympic gold from Beijing? Heeding David Miliband's call to ‘start winning the argument over our record', Labour can take some credit for supporting our athletes to achieve their success. So far, three gold medals, and hope for more before the games close. Compare that to the solitary gold medal Britain won at the Olympic games in Atlanta in 1996 towards the fag-end of 18 years of Tory rule that had failed to invest in young people or in sport. Athletes at all levels need government investment in sport to help reach their potential.

Friday saw the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Athletes from 204 countries paraded through the Birds Nest Stadium proudly carrying their national flags, delighted to be representing their country. This is where we hit a problem for those people who are adamant that politics and sport cannot mix and that sport should rise above global realities.

On an almost daily basis, we hear that Britain faces an impending fuel crisis. Energy bills could rise by more than 60 per cent in the next few years; the cost of petrol and gas continues to soar.

But what do we really understand about our use of energy - and who is offering the vision to do something about it?