It has taken Gordon Brown a long time to decide to condemn the execution of Saddam Hussein. One suspects he decided to wait until the public's opinion had been decided on before venturing an opinion.

Mr Brown told BBC One's Sunday AM show the manner of the former Iraqi leader's hanging was "completely unacceptable".

The UK chancellor said he was personally against the death penalty, and he hoped lessons would be learnt from the mistakes made in Saddam's execution.

Many of us knew that the execution of Saddam Hussein was unacceptable from the beginning and Gordon Brown's late entry into the fold cuts no ice with anyone.

Too little too late Gordon.

Ken Livingstone for Prime Minister