“As a first step, Britain must support the international isolation of the Sri Lankan regime until it accepts an independent, international investigation into the mass killings.

“Not all Sinhalese are evil. Neither is every Tamil a saint. But the fact remains that every soldier in the Sri Lankan army who fought the war against the LTTE during 2008-2009 was a Sinhalese.

“This background information is essential for any non-Tamil to understand how the Sri Lankan army can be so brutal against its own civilians.”

At the screening last week in New York of the Channel 4’s documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ to UN diplomats and US media, representatives of Sri Lanka’s government insisted on responding to it.

On Friday Sri Lanka hailed $1.2bn of investment in its tourist industry so far in 2011.

But $1bn of this is for a hotel and a shopping mall, both in Colombo, on prime land purchased from Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry. And both investments have been attracted with major tax concessions.

The argument that cricket and politics are separate was always dubious – not least given what a ‘national’ team represents.

In April, Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped government suddenly raised taxes on imported cars – from 95% to 120%.

The overnight raise drew this comment from ‘fp’, a reader of Lanka Business Online:

"The video showing summary executions during the final days of Sri Lanka's war in May 2009 provides clear-cut evidence of war crimes.

"I tried to die. That was better for me. But then I found that I was being revived so that I can be killed by torture in Sri Lanka. I don't feel any animosity towards anyone but I cannot understand why the British authorities saved my life only to send me back to where I would be killed."

During 2009, even as 40,000 Tamil civilians were being systematically killed by the Sri Lankan military, the UK government approved arms sales worth £700,000 to Sri Lanka. Even after Sri Lanka declared victory, and the war over, the UK government approved sales of arms to £1,000,000

The emergence of new evidence of war crimes against Tamil civilians has led to questions on Britain's tacit backing of the Sri Lankan government.

Speaking in the House of Commons against the deportation of Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka, opposition (Labour) MP Siobhain McDonagh said the UK government had Tamil blood on its hands.