Premiers and prestige
Sir: It was most interesting to hear Mr Wilson's praise of Mr Heath's efforts to undermine the leadership of his own party in an otherwise dreary interview on BBC Radio 4 last week. The gentle art of stabbing the leader in the back is of course one of which Mr Wilson has had considerable past experience; and this no doubt accounts for his readiness to indulge in applause or suspicion as circumstances may dictate.
In the early years of the century Winston Churchill laid down that one of the first essentials for a British Prime Minister was prestige. Looking back over our experience in the last decade one would say that he has not yet been proved to be wrong. Wilson, incidentally, needs to be reminded that the government of this realm is not `his' government but Her Majesty's Government; like Heath before him his vanity is now such that he is arrogating to himself the authority of the Crown.
J. D. Godber 22 Sandcross Lane, Reigate, Surrey
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