Walden runs into a storm over Mandela

Brian Walden, the television presenter, has brought a rain of criticism down on his head by describing Nelson Mandela as feckless, arrogant and autocratic.

In a the final part of his series Walden on Heroes, to be broadcast tonight on BBC2, Mr Walden questions the credentials of the South African president. "Mandela, perhaps the most generally admired figure of our age, falls short of the giants of the past," he says. "He is unable to inspire the spur to action and doing things right."

He does, however, pay tribute to Mr Mandela's humane presidency of a deeply divided country.

"Brian Walden has lost his marbles," Ann Clwyd, MP for Cynon Valley, said yesterday, in reference to the programme.