VIEWPOINT

THE political make–up artists will be busy at the French spa town of Evian today and tomorrow. Cosmetics will certainly be needed to create an appearance of harmony at the G8 summit meeting of leaders of the world's industrialised countries. These meetings have been held annually for almost 30 years but relations between the principals have never been worse than they are this year. The most publicised difficulties are those between President Bush on the one hand and his host Jacques Chirac, President Putin and Germany's Chancellor Schroder, on the other. But, remarkably, Mr Bush and his immediate neighbour, Jean Chretien of Canada, have also managed to fall out over Iraq and an infected Canadian cow found to have CJD. The G8 meetings discuss the state of the world – and what to do about it. However, the extent to which individual leaders put their backs into implementing the broad policies agreed on depends on how much they respect and trust each other. Bearing that in mind, it is unlikely that there will be any substantive outcome from Evian. The best to be hoped for is that no rows break out in public. One year ago President Mbeki of South Africa briefed the G8 leaders on his plan for a new deal for Africa, based on human rights and democratic reforms in the continent and solid aid programmes from the rich countries in return. Little progress has been made on either side but even in their fractured condition the G8 countries should surely be able to commit themselves more constructively to the worsening African problem.