18 MAY 2002, Page 39

Food for thought

From Mr IC. Riddell Sir: Reading Peter Hitchens's article ('Keep quiet or face arrest', 11 May) put me in mind of the experience of a supermarket manager who told me of the great difficulty he had in convincing a customer that the description thick Irish sausages' referred to the products on sale in his store and not the inhabitants of the country of origin. A case for the thought police?

J.C. Riddell

Harrogate. North Yorkshire