6 OCTOBER 1961, Page 17

'DAILY TELEGRAPH'

SIR,—Because I read the Daily Telegraph I am, according to Cyril Ray, a 'petty bourgeois Tory voter.' I'm not, and when I talk of Tories I use ruder terms than either 'petty' or 'bourgeois.' I was as nauseated as he was with the intrusion into Osborne's private life; the Telegraph's recent attitude to the UN has been worse than that of the Express; Peter Simple gives me high blood pressure: and as a teacher I am convinced that everyone in the country is for us except the Telegraph editor and Eccles (I don't credit Selwyn with opinions).

The fact remains, however, that apart from the Times (Ray is right there, I can't afford it) no other paper gives as comprehensive a news coverage as the Telegraph. The Herald's range is smaller (e.g. few book reviews) and even 'tow it is printed in London the Guardian misses much (no, it's not the horse racing—until I read about him in last Sunday's Observer I had the idea that St. Paddy was an Irish jockey).

I shall, therefore, continue to read the Telegraph if only for the satisfaction of agreeing with every word said about it at the weekend in the Spectator and New Statesman.

ARNOLD SHONE

21 Victoria Road, Leigh-on-Sea. Essex