PETER Luff continues to show his flair for theatre, particularly the works of Shakespeare.

A few weeks ago, I unearthed the reviews of Peter's performances during his days on the amateur dramatics stage.

Arguably the most flattering review concerned Peter's performance as Berowne in Love's Labour Lost.

(The Cambridge Evening News's Deryck Harvey wrote: "He exudes assurance, the quality most likely to leave him with egg on his face. It is a fine performance - rightly confident, never overstated.")

This week he returned to the Bard, as he pressed the Foreign Office to make progress on the "road map" for peace in the Middle East.

He asked Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien: "When he next meets representatives of Arab governments or the Israeli government, will he remember the word of Brutus in "Julius Caesar"?

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures."

Distant applause

The sound of distant applause now ringing in his ears, Mr Luff continued: "Does he agree that we are on such a full sea, that we must take that current, which is flowing strongly in the direction of peace, and that, if we fail, future generations of Palestinians and Israelis will never forgive us?"

Mike O'Brien, who was born in Worcester, was clearly impressed.

He replied: "Et tu, Brute."