30 DECEMBER 2006, Page 15

Major and manners

From John Bone

Sir: I’ve only just seen Paul Johnson’s article on manners (And another thing, 2 December) and would like to bear belated witness to at least one act of considerable courtesy on the part of John Major. As chief secretary to the Treasury in the late 1980s, he held a meeting of officials at which I was the most junior present. He held the door open for us all and then, already knowing the others in the deputation by name, took the trouble to introduce himself to me and bade me sit down. I am confident that, in nearly 30 years of public service, I have never come across such politeness from any politician, let alone a Cabinet minister.

John Bone London SW6