13 JUNE 1987, Page 29

Serial rights

Sir: Your reviewer, David Sexton (Books, 30 May), reports that 'the Sunday Times claims to have spent £850,000' to acquire the serial rights to An Affair of State, the new book on the Profumo case. I am intrigued to know how Mr Sexton came by such a claim, and what steps he took to verify it. My guess is he took none, which would explain why he is out by a factor of about nine. That does not inspire confi- dence in the reliability of the rest of his review.

Andrew Neil The Sunday Times, Virginia Street, London El