9 AUGUST 2003, Page 34

Plan for that plinth

From Martin Sewell

Sir: I was reading Anthony Browne's excellent article (Some truths about immigration', 2 August) last Saturday morning while listening to Radio Four. The Today programme was revisiting the question of the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square, and then the solution came to me.

There, where the empire paid tribute to the heroes who protected its interests, Mayor Ken could simultaneously celebrate the British love of irony, subvert the past as he loves to do, record New Labour's historic legacy, and, by way of fair play, acknowledge a worthy and successful opponent of British sovereignty. He should leave the plinth as it is and designate it The Memorial to the Unknown Illegal Immigrant'.

Martin Sewell

Gravesend, Kent