26 FEBRUARY 1994, Page 29

Textual analysis

Sir: Now let's just get this straight. Accord- ing to Simon Courtauld (`No sex on the Rock', 19 February) 90 per cent of Gibral- tarians are Roman Catholic, and their bish- op lives among them; the Anglican Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe (who cannot, pre- sumably, lay claim to the allegiance of more than 10 per cent of the population) lives in London W8. From this follows the eminently logical statement that 'the Brits have to suffer at the hands of an interfering papist'.

Leaving aside the remarkable supposi- tion inherent in the article that the Angli- can bishop would support the unlicensed spread of girlie bars for the benefit of those of Her Majesty's forces who happen to have left their passports behind, just how great a majority does one have to command to escape censure in The Spectator for 'interfering'?

S. F. Lang

'I wouldn't be seen dead in their clothes.'