12 OCTOBER 1996, Page 34

Coarse source

Sir: How odd that your leader (28 Septem- ber) on Lady Thatcher's James Bryce lec- ture failed to remark on the absurd contra- diction in her condemnation of contempo- rary 'coarsening of everything from art to music to literature to film' coupled with her praise for the source of most of that coars- ening, the United States.

D.J. Woodhead

29 Randalls Road, Leatherhead, Surrey