13 APRIL 2002, Page 29

Great restraint

From Dr Robin Daniels

Sir: Having been thoroughly depressed (and rightly so) by Theodore Dalrymple and his reflections on the passing of a Britain of honour and self-discipline (The Britain that died with her', 6 April), my heart was lifted thanks, just three pages later, to Julian Manyon ('We don't do mountains', 6 April). The reluctance of British officers to criticise their apparently inferior American colleagues in Afghanistan is a clear example of the restraint and good manners personified by the Queen Mother.

How reassuring that, at least within the Royal Marines, a Britain that is still Great survives.

Robin Daniels

Risby, Suffolk