IT seems for the past week the whole nation has been trying to guess who allegedly raped Ulrika Jonsson. I have to admit my hunch was wrong and I owe an apology to the "dark-haired TV celebrity" whom I suspected to be the mystery man.

Whether Ms Jonsson intended to reduce this most serious of crimes to a parlour game is debatable, but I suspect she is astute enough to have realised the consequences of her writings.

I'm no great fan of Ulrika but I have no reason to disbelieve what she is saying because I have seen no evidence to disprove her allegations.

The police have come a long way in their attitude to dealing with rape complaints. That is down to the fully-justified campaign from victim support and rape pressure groups.

Gone are the days of a burly sergeant clumsily interviewing a distraught woman in an interview room over a plastic cup of coffee. Now there are specially-designed suites, fully-trained female officers, counsellors and medical staff on hand.

Personally, I feel anyone making a complaint of rape should be believed from the outset. That doesn't prevent an impartial inquiry being carried out and the truth emerging. But officers should appreciate the courage it takes for a woman - or indeed a man - to report a rape, bearing in mind the ordeal they face in recounting the experience in front of strangers and then a public courtroom.

Had Ulrika made a complaint at the time she claims she was attacked, it may be that other witnesses or victims would have come forward. I hope Ulrika will now make a full statement to police about what allegedly happened in that hotel room. That will send the right message to other victims and allow justice to take its course.

Mind you, there must now be severe doubts as to whether the man at the centre of these allegations can ever receive a fair trial. He has already undergone trial by media with newspapers printing a host of stories regarding allegations about his private life.

Certainly, if he is ever charged, his barrister will undoubtedly produce these cuttings and invite the judge to decide whether he can really expect a fair trial.

THE other debate which seems to be interesting the nation at the moment is the question of who was the greatest Briton? The favourite is Winston Churchill, but I think he would be embarrassed by such a suggestion.

Wartime heroes are not the generals who sit on horses at the top of the hill but the foot soldiers who display bravery in the face of extreme danger.

I feel the Unknown Solider should have made the shortlist as a standard bearer for the ordinary Brit who showed extraordinary courage.

But if it must be an individual, then my own Great Briton is Edward Cooper, from Stockton, who received the Victoria Cross for the extreme bravery he showed in the trenches of the First World War, single-handedly overcoming a machine gun turret and capturing several enemy soldiers.

VC Cooper embodied the spirit and character that put the Great into Britain.

Published: 25/10/2002