LETTERS Seeing isn't believing
Sir: Obviously the '300' list is a jolly jour- nalistic diversion (What about Sir Humphrey?', 7 November). However, the great problem for some of us is that impor- tant but susceptible people, mostly foreign- ers, take such lists seriously and act accord- ingly. One major Japanese industrialist client was convinced that a decrepit banker and peer headed Mrs Thatcher's Council of Economic Advisers and so effectively ran Britain's economy. With something close to obsessional paranoia, the Japanese refused to believe that no such council existed and, even with the help of No. 10, he took a lot of shifting. The outcome for this country otherwise could have been catastrophic for inward investment.
I would reinforce Monnet's view: the real movers and shakers prefer to move behind the scenes. No names, no pack drill. When Dame Cicely Saunders conceived, planned and set in place The National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Ser- vices over a series of private dinners in the 1980s, the powerful key figure remained anonymous. Discreetly, we argued our case with a succession of health ministers. Pub- licity could have blown it and the Council would not have become one of the great success stories of modern medicine.
The '300' list is typical of today's PR hype: ephemeral, superficial and danger- ously misleading if you are fool enough to believe it. Thank you, Mr Sampson, for the warning.
Geoffrey Tucker
68 St James's Street, London SW1
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