14 MAY 1988, Page 23

Foolish argument

Sir: Dennis Sewell writing on Derek Jar- man's The Last of England (7 May), says that I attacked the film because 'films . . . should not give a bad impression of Britain to foreigners'.

That would be a foolish argument to use, and, unless Mr Sewell can surprise me, I have never used it. The argument about The Last of England goes deeper than that.

Norman Stone

Worcester College, Oxford