Blair’s conscience
Sir: Charles Moore may be correct that Mr Blair wishes to become a Catholic on relinquishing office (The Spectator’s Notes, 9 June). Whether this is appropriate or not is another matter. Throughout his time in Parliament Mr Blair has failed consistently to follow the unequivocal teaching of the Church — on the protection of the unborn child, for instance, on experimentation on human embryos and on civil partnerships. His government was particularly vicious in handling the hierarchy and Catholic adoption agencies over the Sexual Orientation Regulations. As a convert to the faith, Mr Moore knows that after professing the Nicene Creed, those being received into full communion with the Catholic Church state publicly: ‘I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.’ Could the Prime Minister say that in good conscience?
Paul Keeley
Glasgow
Money bags
Sir: In his article ‘Hatred of the rich is back in fashion’ (9 June) Ross Clark wondered ‘What about the people who sew the £10,000 handbags together — surely the more that the wealthy spend on their handbags, the more they earn?’ Does he really believe that the sewers of hyper-handbags earn more than those who sew the mundane totes of everywoman? They’re sewn by the same people, for God’s sake, and for the same pathetic pittance. Unintentionally, Clark actually makes the opposite point that he intended — the more £10,000 handbags that are purchased, the richer the wealthy become. The poor who sew the bags are unaffected because the difference is all in the margin.
Edward Collier
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Miliband mère
Sir: I’m surprised that Mary Wakefield (‘The charm of Ed Miliband’, 2 June) inquired only after Miliband père and not once about Miliband mère, a formidable woman in her own right. Ed’s father Ralph was my brilliant and much-loved LSE tutor in Government. His mother, Marian Kozak, was my fellow student, a ferociously independent thinker and a great class contributor. Visiting the LSE some years after graduation, I bumped into Ralph in the foyer. ‘Whatever happened to Marian Kozak?’ I inquired. He flashed me a winning smile: ‘Sander — I married her!’ David and Ed are certainly their father’s charming sons; they are also Marian’s brilliant boys.
Sander Meredeen
Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire
Gaslight gaffe
Sir: Robert Gore-Langton’s piece ‘Thrilling Stuff’ (Arts, 7 June) on the revival of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight at the Old Vic stated: ‘Hamilton’s biographer, Nigel Jones, has a low regard for Gaslight and doesn’t even mention in his book that it was a triumph on Broadway where it ran under the feeble title Angel Street.’
This is completely incorrect. Here is what I wrote in my biography Through a Glass Darkly: ‘Under the title Angel Street, it [Gaslight] transferred to Broadway, where it enjoyed a huge money-making success, running for four years and making Patrick a very wealthy man.’ As for my not having a high regard for Gaslight — on the contrary, I wrote of it having ‘a touch of genius …with qualities that lift Gaslight out of the run-of-the-mill pastiche Victorian melodrama and explain its enduring success’. Did Mr Gore-Langton read the same book?
Nigel Jones
Lewes, East Sussex
How to befriend robins
Sir: I was delighted to read Paul Johnson’s warm reference to my father David Lack and his two robin books, the successful Life of the Robin, and the anthology, Robin Redbreast (And another thing, 26 May).
Incidentally, Lord Grey did not tame robins to ring them. His book The Charm of Birds (1927) devotes a chapter to teaching a wild robin to feed from the hand, just for the fun of it. My mother, now 90, and an ornithologist herself, was given this book as a teenager and put the lesson into practice. It worked. She has had a tame robin in her garden most of her life.
Andrew Lack
School of Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes
Talk the TalkTalk
Sir: Matthew Vincent’s analysis ‘Sick of rotten service?’ (Business, 9 June) does not tell the whole story. Carphone Warehouse’s share price may have performed very well over the last five years, with a reputation for good customer service a significant factor. However, in the 12 months since the launch of TalkTalk Free Broadband on 11 April 2006, the shares fell by 8.1 per cent in absolute terms and by as much as 31.2 per cent relative to the FTSE 250. There is no doubt that poor customer service has been one of the biggest issues for our shareholders. In most instances, customers will vote with their feet if companies persist in delivering an unacceptable level of service. In the long run, it’s hardly a sustainable business model.
Peregrine Riviere
Director of Corporate Affairs, Carphone Warehouse Group PLC, London W3
Memories are made of this
Sir: Charles Moore mentioned the benefits of Bromo last week (The Spectator’s Notes, 9 June). Schoolchildren also found it useful in memorising the victories of Marlborough: Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenardie, Malplaquet.
E. Winter
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Sir: Can I and my brother James be the only ones to recall Lysol Ziz-Zag Toilet Paper — ‘the most powerfully deodorising toilet paper made, treated with Lysol under the pressure of 40lbs per square inch’?
Min Hogg
London SW3
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