Sta,—Mr. Kenneth Robinson, MP, would be a more convincing advocate
of smearless controversy were it not that in a letter of some 500 words he uses the following phrases amongst others about Dr. Donald Johnson : 'his distorted description,"accusa- Lion he cannot substantiate; 'disingenuous selection of facts; 'wild assault' and 'cause he claims to have at heart.'
Both in the law courts and in the House of Commons there is increasing and substantiated evi- dence that the present laws relating to mental health have resulted, in many cases, in a quite reckless dis- regard for the liberty of the individual., Mr. Norman Dodds, Dr. Johnson and other MPs find this a matter for protest and concern. Not so Mr. Kenneth Robinson, the protagonist of the status quo.
A salutary exercise for Mr. Robinson during the forthcoming Parliamentary recess would be to read the biographies of Howard, Elizabeth Fry, Shaftes- bury and Wilberforce. He might note their treatment of the kid-glove reformers who thought that nothing ought to be done because things were better than they used to be. Mr. Robinson's reactionary belief that reform can be achieved without offending any- body could not be substantiated in the face of a serious study of social history.—Yours faithfully,
29 Bainton Road, Oxford
IVOR R. M. DAVIES
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