7 APRIL 1984, Page 21

Letters

A dreadful place

Sir: Miss Tisdall's sentence is brutal, savage, horrific, and will mark her for life, according to the Press. It probably will. I spent three and a half years in Holloway Prison, and it is indeed a dreadful place.

On the other hand perhaps the Foreign Office, once described by Enoch Powell as a nest of spies and traitors, should be more careful about its clerks. This latest Performance shows how wise President Reagan was not to have told Mrs Thatcher and Sir Geoffrey Howe about his intended invasion of Grenada. Had the story been on the front page of the Guardian in advance it would not have been particularly helpful. Diana Mosley

Temple de la Gloire, 91400 Orsay