ONLY with courage and conviction will Robert Mugabe's brutal regime in Zimbabwe come to an end.

The same courage and conviction that was shown during last year's Cricket World Cup by Henry Olonga and Andy Flower, who wore black armbands in protest at the 'death of democracy' in their country.

Their gesture put the world's spotlight on Mr Mugabe far more than the dithering by the England and Wales Cricket Board over whether or not to play in Harare.

There should be no further dithering over the tour to Zimbabwe this autumn. The ECB should have the courage and conviction to pull out now.

And the British Government should have the courage and conviction to give the ECB its unequivocal support.

If, by its action, the ECB incurs censure and financial penalties from the International Cricket Council, the Government has a duty to offer compensation and political back-up.

It is wrong to expect English cricket alone to demonstrate our country's resentment of Mr Mugabe's regime.

A decision to let the England cricketers stay at home will have no significant impact on those in control in Zimbabwe. On its own it will be a rather pointless and empty gesture.

Only through complete isolation is there a chance of easing Mr Mugabe from power. That will entail ending not just cricket links, but all sporting, economic and diplomatic links.

These were the type of sanctions which isolated South Africa from the international community, threw the spotlight on the injustice of whites-only rule, and eventually led to the end of apartheid.

A similar stance should be adopted against Mr Mugabe and his regime.

It seems nonsense, for example, for Cabinet ministers to expect cricketers to boycott Zimbabwe while they seem content to allow British airlines to fly into the country every day.

Is it too much to ask for consistency from our Government on a fundamental issue of human rights?