16 MARCH 1985, Page 22

Alastair Forbes

Sir: I am very sorry that my tribute to Alastair Forbes in your issue of 23 Febru- ary should have contained an untrue state- ment capable of causing him considerable embarrassment. It must have been my own occasionally 'malicious turn of fancy' that led me to accuse him of 'plunging more than one London editor into unnecessary libel cases.' Such a charge I now unre- servedly withdraw.

Your anonymous contributor