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Usually people roll out the red carpet for the Queen.

This time it's a red-light district. Oh she must be charmed.

As 53 heads of state, plus Prince Charles and his mother, descend on Kampala for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Uganda has embarked on a $120m clean-up for the 5,000 or so visiting dignitaries – filling in potholes, propping up pretty flowers, adding lights to otherwise dark streets.

But best of all for social development surely, is that the meeting, which is held every two years, has sent the price of a lady of the night spiralling.

Whereas £30 might be reasonable in less highfalutin times, now a prostitute can bag £50.

Top of its list of achievements then, CHOGM can list encouraging a 67% growth rate in costs for "specified social services".

It's good to know what a bunch of ex-colonial countries can achieve when they really set their minds to it.

In case you're keen to support the social agenda, the red-light districts have been packed off to the suburbs, such as Kabalagala and
Ntinda.

There, illegal sex workers have to make do with seedy bars instead of central curbways.

Nevertheless, out of sight is by no means out of mind.

Some have started taking English lessons in preparation for the influx of foreigners.

What a progressive turn-up for the books. Another plus point for CHOGM.