The reported killing of Margaret Hassan will most likely re-ignite adebate in the Arab world about the rights and wrongs of the use of violence to achieve political goals.
And he launched a counter-attack on Labour's plans to increase spending on the health service by calling for a boost to private spending on health - which is likely to ignitea fierce debate.
Many fund officials would be happy to hear a French President re-ignite that debate after 6 May - though naturally, they would rather the president in question were not (gasp) a socialist.
But the amazing story of the Shroud of Turin has simply refused to fade into obscurity and die, for the simple reason that a conflict of evidence has emerged which is about to re-ignite the debate around this compelling religious artefact.
The book is a collection of essays by Australian writers, lawyers and academics seeking to ignite fresh debate on the constitutional monarchy in an election year.