Totally confused
Sir: We found Mr Auberon Waugh's description of Alex Carlile as the 'right- wing' member for Montgomery baffling (Another voice, 27 January). As he was elected as a Liberal Democrat MP, and has spent his 13 years in the House of Com- mons extolling the virtues of, among other things, constitutional reform, investment in education, the welfare state etc., we can only conclude that Mr Waugh is either: (a) hopelessly at sea in his understanding of generic political terms; or (b) a dangerously radical political thinker who is attempting to redefine the boundaries of traditional political groupings according to which soap opera people watch — EastEnders watchers are 'left-wing', Brookside devotees are 'mid- dle- of-the-road', Home and Away fans are members of the Arthur Scargill party, and so on; or (c) is confusing Mr Carlile with another MP (perhaps a Mr Carlisle who campaigned tirelessly on behalf of P.W. Botha's South African regime in the 1980s).
Mr Waugh's description of Alex Carlile as living in a 'disadvantaged urban habitat' is just as puzzling. Having spent many a day watching the sheep quietly ruminating on the gently rolling hills of Montgomery where Mr Carlile lives (in his comfortable Tudor home) and which he represents in the House of Commons — we can say with authority that it is neither disadvantaged nor urban. Perhaps Mr Waugh spends so much of his time watching the television he no longer believes that people live in areas other than those depicted in fictional Wal- ford or Weatherfield.
Given Mr Waugh's obvious confusion, we would like to point out that Trisha Arm- strong is, of course, a symbol of single mums everywhere who watch television. Unfortunately, many of them do live in a state of urban (and rural) disadvantage, a state which, more often than not, has been thrust upon them because of a systemic fail- ure in our society to give single mothers the opportunity to work. Giving them a custo- dial sentence because they cannot afford the television licence is, as Mr Carlile right- ly pointed out, a massive financial burden on the state, and a tragic way to undermine the human spirit.
Gareth Roberts
The Liberal Democrat Whips Office, House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1
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