The logic of the authorities is truly Orwellian – the only offence of the ‘criminals’ was thought crime.

With a worsening human rights record that includes the alleged torture of both British and Emirati citizens, shouldn’t this visit also be a chance to raise issues of concern with the president of the UAE?

It is impressive, but also expedient, that an EU resolution condemning the human rights record of a vital trading partner has passed, when UAE-EU trade totalled over twenty billion dollars in the first six months of 2012.

Syrian diplomats have been expelled and the UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has explained that his priority is ‘to provide for the end of all violence’ amidst waves of public revulsion at the growing atrocities in poor Syria. Isn’t this cynical manipulation and hypocrisy?

If you are one of the million Brits who will visit the UAE this year, think about this as you are seduced by the Lionel Richie led dancing water fountain in Dubai, and think about the UAE 7