Inspirations From The West

Greetings America.

Sex and shopping - that's what I've got on the agenda today. It seems that whatever happens in your country, sooner or later happens in our country, too. Your former President Clinton was here recently making a speech and while he was here, quite a few of the commentators had some fun at his expense - reminding their readers of the sex games the great man go up to in the White House.

Well, at the same time your ex-President was over here, our ex-Prime Minister John Major was over there, also making a speech - and during his visit there were unexpected revelations from his ex-mistress of how he too had managed to stray from the path of marital fidelity. America - you set the standard. Just as new statistics reveal that an alarming 64.5 per cent of American adults are either overweight or obese - that's more than 120 million fat Americans - new health warnings are issued over here telling us Brits that, unless action is taken, we are set to follow your example, because today nearly fifty per cent of British kids are overweight. Our leaders follow your leaders' sexual code, our kids copy your kids' eating habits - and now it seems we are starting to shop like you.

Twenty-five years ago in America you pioneered home shopping - encouraging consumers to forsake the shopping mall for the simpler pleasures of watching TV and phoning in to make their purchase by credit card. Last week I flew over to Tampa to appear on the Home Shopping Channel - I wanted to see how it's done because it's just taking off over here Where you are it's big business. Last year the Home Shopping Channel had sales of 1.93 billion dollars. What was I selling to the home shopping viewers? (seventy five per cent of them female, apparently, aged 40 plus). English teddy bears. And, of course, we got the teddy bear from you too - exactly 100 years ago, as it happens, in November 1902. America - where would we be without you?