Si, — I am one of the thousands of ordinary shopPet? who
have recently joined the Consumer Council, about which Leslie Adrian is apparently so informed.
I joined it because its Shopper's Guide tells tne, (for instance) which electric blankets are safe ana, which unsafe, and compares different brands 01 wall tin-opener—showing that a 15s. one is better value than a £2 one—and so on. (These two examPles arc from the current issue.) In short, doing just what Leslie Adrian condemns it for failing to do!
Obviously he did not read Shopper's Guide be- fore writing about it and saying that the libel laws prevent anyone publishing objective comparisons of different products. Shopper's Guide consists almost wholly of articles that do just this.
I hope you will not let this inaccuracy go tal" corrected, because the Consumer Council is doing such valuable pioneer work of benefit to all shoppers that it deserves every encouragement, and I was saddened to see such an ill-informed attack in a paPer of the Spectator's calibre.—Yours faithfully,
M. cattO 6 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, SW 1
[Leslie Adrian writes: 'When I wrote about the Consumer Council Shopper's Guide I had seen only the disappointing first issue. I am happy to agree that the second number goes far towards meeting InY original criticisms. 'The libel laws in this country do hinder completclY objective comparisons in the press. Shopper's Guide and the new guide Which?, produced by the Associa' tion of Consumer Research Ltd., are both subscription publications and are supplying requested information for a fee. This helps them legally.'—Editor, Spectator.]
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