Spectator letters: In defence of the GMC and Ukip members, and how Rachmaninov spelled Rachmaninov

Nothing to fear

Sir: So long as we are not breaking any law, we have nothing to fear from the police being able to access our mobiles (‘Licence to snoop’, 11 October). They, however, would be committing a crime if they released any information so gleaned to anyone except to the judiciary if we are being accused of a crime.

In these difficult times it is reassuring that the police should have every means at their disposal in pursuing those who would do us harm or commit criminal activity.
Adrian Snow
South Cerney, Cirencester

In defence of KP

Sir: Peter Oborne is right that some of Kevin Pietersen’s most brilliant innings over the past ten years will stay with cricket lovers for ever (‘An excess of spin’, 11 October), but wrong that his autobiography, KP, won’t. The vivid prose has lifted the lid on what has been said in the dressing room and challenged the adage that what is said there should remain there. As Pietersen puts it, ‘There was a story that had to be told’; cutting against the spin, there is also a case to answer. What comes over most clearly is that any enjoyment had gone out of playing for England. Pietersen may best be served by a period of silence on his part, while a new chief executive of the ECB takes up the post. I’m not betting on the silence, but something better must surely emerge for players and cricket lovers alike. The book will stay among my cricket books, alphabetically by author, alongside Oborne’s brilliant Basil D’Oliveira (2004) for as long as I have them; to be joined, I hope, by future memoirs of players whose joy at playing for this country is once again palpable and for whom some fun is restored to touring abroad.
Malcolm Watson
Welford, Berkshire