That may show that Mr Jospin's caution is, indeed, the better part of valour.

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Valour in the face of the enemy may not be enough to save him.

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Without him, without his valour and courage, it would have been impossible to get to this point.

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It is time to look to the future with hope, it is also time to act with responsibility and valour.

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His father, Col H Jones, was killed at the Battle of Goose Green in 1982, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour.

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And the commission often judges prudence the better part of valour.

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Caution is indeed the better part of valour at times.

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The inscription 'For Valour' was personally chosen by Queen Victoria.

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And earlier this year, the Ladies in White received the US government's Human Rights Defender Award for what Washington called their exceptional valour in protecting human rights in the face of government repression.

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His martial valour (and patrician snobbery) are less appreciated in the battlefield of politics, when he runs for consul at the urging of his mother, Volumnia (splendidly played, with steely ambition couched in soft tones, by Vanessa Redgrave in a military greatcoat).

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And I want you to know that we will never forget the sacrifice and service of the American soldiers who gave their lives for people whose names they never knew, and whose faces they never saw, and yet people who have lived in freedom thanks to the bravery and valour of the Americans who gave the "last full measure of devotion".

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