4 JULY 1998, Page 38

Orator Hague

Sir: Mrs Thatcher used to mock Mr Neil Kinnock for his parliamentary incompe- tence. 'He can't think on his feet,' she would jibe.

William Hague's dominance on every parliamentary topic raised is a phe- nomenon of our time. Anybody with a taste for oratory should listen to and, if possible, tape-record the weekly broadcast of Prime Minister's Question Time. It is a measure of the meanness of Sir Edward Heath that he should dismiss this extraordinary gift of his young colleague as `being rude to the government'.

No doubt Sir Edward is one of the family of 'big hitters' some Tories say they need. John A. Riley

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