Down with pride
Sir: William Hague (`Energy, enthusiasm, beliefs — these I offer', 10 May) makes a fair case for his supposed primacy inter pares until he comes to the astounding statement: ... a party which does not understand how to build a reputation and win a loyal follow- ing for it through the use of the media can never hope to defeat a party [he means Labour, not the government] whose sole rai- son d'etre is to flatter the media [my italics].
The first rule of opposition is never to underestimate your opponent. The second — in the case of political opposition — is not to underestimate the electorate. If Mr Hague really believes that Labour exists solely to flatter the media and that a hood- winked nation voted it into government for that purpose, he neither has nor deserves any chance of leading the Tory party.
Look long and hard at your opponents, Mr Hague; analyse New Labour and the serious reasons for its landslide success, dis- play the humility becoming to a party that was soundly thrashed, before you aspire to be top. Until then, like Molesworth — you are probably too young to remember Molesworth — you remain an earnest swot. Angela Lambert
L'Escarcelle, Au lieu dit Gaudemagne, Grolejac, 24250 Domme, France
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