THE killing of the Swedish Foreign Secretary Anna Lindh will focus attention on the nature of democracy and on Sunday's referendum about whether Sweden should join the euro.

It is unthinkable that Ms Lindh's death can have anything to do with her high-profile involvement in the campaign for a yes to the euro. If it has, freedom of speech is lost and democracy is dead.

Our condolences go out to Ms Lindh's family and children, and to the Swedish people who are on the verge of losing their ideals.

Even if Ms Lindh's death has nothing to do with the referendum, it seems it will result in Swedish politicians getting bodyguards and security protection. This is terribly sad.

Part of the reason that British politicians like Tony Blair are seen as being out of touch is that they swan around in an hermetically sealed bubble, seeing only what their advisors want them to see and answering only what they want to answer.

In Sweden, relatively untouched by political violence despite the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, Ms Lindh was regularly spotted sitting on the floor of the crowded commuter train back to her suburb.

Security understandably dictates that, in Britain, Mr Blair only careers around in motorcades - but that is the ordinary person's loss. If more of our leaders experienced the cram of our trains and roads, or of out-patient waiting rooms, they would be more in touch with the day-to-day lives of us real people.

Ms Lindh's death also focuses attention on the euro referendum which, from this side of the North Sea, looks very similar to the one we would have in this country, should Mr Blair ever dare to call it.

The ruling leftish government has been split - possibly irretrievably - down the middle with the Prime Minister, Goran Persson, joining the political classes and business in arguing to join.

In contrast, ordinary Swedes see that their economy is doing okay and that unemployment is not too bad - particularly not when compared to the eurozone. They don't understand the need to rock the boat.

Polls also show that they like their heritage and independence, and that they are rather suspicious of the large, distant, faceless European Union that they would be giving their krona to.

Because of tragedy, the Swedish referendum has shone a light on the job that Mr Blair has to do if he is ever to convince this country that it should join the euro.