25 OCTOBER 2008, page 25

Both Their Houses

Sir: In your leading article of 11 October (‘A necessary evil’) you state that ‘Many of those senators who opposed the bail-out initially but changed their minds when it was......

Sneers Before Bedtime

Sir: I was dismayed that The Spectator gave a platform to sneer-master general A.A. Gill (India Travel, 18 October) in the guise of a travel piece about Calcutta. Having done a......

Generous Denis

Sir: Denis MacShane is too generous. In his Diary (11 October) he surmised that I might be the author of John Major’s ‘Back to Basics’ slogan. But I am afraid I can take no......

Taki Ticked Off

Sir: Taki is quite incorrect at various points in his sweeping revision of the history of modern guerrilla movements, on which he bases his opinion that ‘insurgencies have a......

Irritated By Nats

Sir: The SNP does seem to get between Charles Moore and his peace of mind (The Spectator’s Notes, 18 October). But would he not agree that the oil revenues would have been of......

General Confusion

Sir: I fear that Nigel Milliner (Letters, 18 October) himself falls into error when correcting Dot Wordsworth’s confusion of Gordon and Kitchener. The Nile expedition, which......