The Russians are also taking steps to establish an anti-missile shield. No mystery about the reason for that either: it is in response to the American installation of such a shield with bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

US attempts to shrug off their installations as harmless do not impress Moscow. Will the Americans have no objections if Russia builds a similar installation in Mexico? Neither is the term "harmless" convincing when it is accompanied by Polish leaders thumbing their noses and making belligerent noises at the Kremlin. They are like the mouse in the fable which sat on the elephant's back and said: "Look how tall I am".

The present crisis in Georgia was caused by the reckless invasion of two semi-autonomous regions of Georgia which have large Russian populations. The Georgian President Saakashvili went against previous pledges and despite American cautions.

Russia's response was predictable and brutal. The arrival of a Russian armoured brigade sent the Georgian forces scuttling for cover. Did Saakashvili really think he could take on the Russian Army? Of course not – and this is the most dangerous aspect of all – he assumed that he could drag the US and the rest of Nato, including Britain, into intervening on his behalf.

If Georgia had been in Nato, as the Bush administration (with Britain trotting tamely behind) wants, Saakashvili would have been able to demand that Nato came to his aid. Do we really want to be dragged into a war at the whim of any Caucasian hothead who wants to flex his muscles? There should be no place in Nato for Georgia or the Ukraine. The EU, perhaps, but not Nato.

Which brings us to last week's Conservative Party conference. In almost every respect, it was a resounding success, with David Cameron making what I regarded as the finest conference speech of any party leader for years. The one jarring note was the unwise decision to invite the Georgian Prime Minister. It was a hostage to fortune for a future Conservative Government. The Tories are going to have enough on their plate if they win the next election without foreign adventurism. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russians felt vulnerable and set up the Commonwealth of Independent States as a buffer. But America has taken every opportunity to move in, "using Nato as a dagger, and Britain to supply moralistic veneer," as one expert puts it. If John McCain became President, he would be even more gung-ho. This is more potentially dangerous than any credit crunch or banking crisis.

The Russians will react fiercely to anything they regard as intrusion on their security or prestige. Our ambassador in Moscow has just had to be replaced because of disputes with the regime, which included his car being chased at high speed by militant members of Putin's youth movement, Nashi. He could be forgiven for hating Russia but he is a realist: "Aggressive Communist, expansionist Russia? That is not the country I know. Russia wants to be taken seriously and have respect, but it also wants a decent life for its citizens, and that means integration with the West. I am confident that is the way it is going to go".

The Tories must display the same realism. They might get cheap applause by championing Saakashvili but they must abandon that dangerous policy. It is bad enough Gordon Brown trotting behind the Pentagon without the Tories joining in.



IF a woman does the same work as a man, she should get the same pay. That seems obvious, and no fair-minded person would disagree. But what if they are doing "work of equal value"? What does that mean, and who is going to decide. Local authorities all over Britain have been facing bankruptcy after hundreds of thousands of low-paid women started claims. It began in 2004, when town halls were forced to draw up equal pay structures which offered six years' back pay. The cost was crippling and many councils made deals with unions to pay less than six years. Even the equal opportunity watchdog bowed out. Hordes of no-win, no-fee lawyers smelt an opportunity. They brought court cases to force councils to pay the full six years, along with hefty compensation – plus fat fees for themselves.

Earlier this year the Government was forced to let councils borrow £550m and raise cash by selling capital. Now more emergency funding is having to be given to town halls facing disaster.

Funding of £450m will be given to councils to meet the cost of equal pay settlements for tens of thousands of women. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, says the behaviour of some lawyers in ramping up their fees in these cases is "nothing short of scandalous". When even a lawyer calls other lawyers greedy, you know things are really serious.

This is just another example of the trouble caused by no-win, no fee suits. Something which started as a way of seeking fairness has turned into something ugly. But there is no use blaming those exploiting it. What did they expect from the lawyers? Public spirit?