Chancellor's statement
Sir: During an absence of Mr Peregrine Worsthorne from our shared office at the Sunday Telegraph, I took the liberty of measuring both our desks and found that while it is true that mine is nearly a foot longer, his is in fact four inches wider. So it is a slight exaggeration to say, as he did in his Spectator Diary last week, that my desk is twice the size of his. I should also add that while I am most grateful to the management of the Sunday Telegraph for providing me on my arrival here with such a strong and functional desk, it is, as is only proper, not nearly as handsome as Mr Worsthorne's. His is a Georgian-style, leather-topped affair, as befits a scholar and a gentleman — rather like yours, Sir, though of course not nearly as grand. Mine is a modern, angular affair with metal handles of the sort you might expect to find in an advertising department. I'm not complaining, mind you.
Alexander Chancellor
Assistant Editor, Sunday Telegraph, 135 Fleet Street, London EC4
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