6 DECEMBER 1997, Page 36

Bruce the deconstructionist

Sir: Confronted by a text — in this case, a parliamentary question — Bruce Anderson (Letters, 29 November) claims to discern the author's intention. When the author me — denies this intention, Mr Anderson asserts that his rights as reader have priori- ty over any claims of the author in the interpretation of that text.

I had not previously grasped that fashion- able `deconstructionism' had spread even to Conservative political commentators!

But, then, I am not surprised that poor Bruce should be an early victim. He is famous for his journalism from the per- spective of the power-holder: his columns of the late 1980s in praise of Nigel Lawson are unforgotten. It is a relief to find that this was proof of an uncanny capacity for mind-reading, rather than the mere syco- phancy we had thought it was.

Robert Jackson

House of Commons, London SW1