14 JULY 1984, Page 22

No hope

Sir: So once again it is the Moslems alone who get the bad press, this time from Nicholas Coleridge (Diary, 30 June), who recounts how they spit on pavements in Ladbroke Grove and Earls Court. The briefest of forays father afield in the metropolis will reveal that foulness to be as assiduously practised also by Hindus (both sexes), Blacks and Irish. And with the not otherwise very phlegmatic Ian Botham readily to be seen on television dispersing his sputum while at the wicket (the com- plete answer, surely, to Packerites who want throat microphones worn by Test players), what hope is there for impress- ionable young sons of WASPs?

Anthony Maynard

193 John Aird Court, St. Mary's Terrace, London W2