24 APRIL 1993, Page 27

Pull the other one

Sir: It really is too much. Paul Johnson, the sentimental, inoffensive old buffer, content in front of the television with his grandson, Mindful only of his own business and per- plexed as to what all the fuss is about (And another thing, 3 April)!

For months or years the brutal invective has roared out. On almost any subject Mr Johnson has had a robust and sometimes unbalanced view. Every Saturday and Sun- day in The Spectator and the Telegraph he has thundered away. And what are we now being asked to believe?

That Mr Johnson is not part of the silly circus that calls itself the media but, instead, a humble, largely silent member of that greater society, the Real Nation? Mrnmmm.

Andrew Harley 58 The Vennel, Linlithgow, Scotland_