21 NOVEMBER 1992, Page 36

Treble quotes

Sir: The argument between Bruce Ander- son and Simon Heifer about invented quotes is not a new one, (Politics, 17 Octo- ber; Letters, 31 October, 14 November).

The late Paul Niven, who broadcast from London on the CBS World Network in the late Forties, frequently quoted 'a little old lady in a fishmarket queue'. I said to him once, 'Paul, you never really interviewed that lady. You made up the quotation.' Paul agreed he may not have actually talked to her, but 'if I had, that's what she would have said'.

Roland C. Shaw

Premier Consolidated Oilfields plc, 23 Lower Belgrave Street, London SW I