6 SEPTEMBER 1997, Page 27

The Dome — yes or no?

Sir: Your leader (30 August) was a master- piece of equivocation. To dome or not to dome, that is the answer. . . I was remind- ed of the great Bob Newhart who would recreate conversations in a similar vein.

`Hi, Tony, what's news?'

`Well, Bob, we are all very excited about an enormous dome we are planning for the millennium'. Readers may care to complete the con- versation a la Bob Newhart's famous con- versation with Sir Walter Raleigh on the subject of tobacco. Readers may also like to consider where a dome 13 times the size of the Albert Hall landing in Britain would choose to be located in order to obtain maximum exposure: 'What's that, Tony on an old gasworks site in Greenwich? Sounds great'. Anyway the redeeming fea- ture of all this is that our beloved Spectator has placed one of the all-time great each- way bets.

Allen Levy

3 Stanley Gardens, London W11