21 MARCH 1987, Page 25

I hired Jenkins

Sir: There was one mistake in Peter Jenk- ins' otherwise excellent article in the Spec- tator two weeks ago (`The treason of the hacks'), and since it is repeated by the absurd Auberon Waugh in this week's Spectator, I feel I must correct it before serious journalists start repeating it. Peter was wrong to say that his contract to write for the Sunday Times was 'with Rupert Murdoch'. I hired him, and negoti- ated and signed the contract on behalf of Times Newspapers. The first time he met Ruport Murdoch was long after he had joined the Sunday Times.

Andrew Neil

Editor, The Sunday Times, Virginia Street, London El