Young popinjays
Sir: Precocious young Tapers and Tadpoles can be pardoned for preferring the bright lights to the dusty backrooms of party offices (`The rise of the politocracy', 15 November). It is up to the political parties to keep their vanity in check. For years the Conservative Research Department enforced a proper sense of modesty on Tory popinjays by making them produce boring briefing papers and policy docu- ments ad nauseam. I had the task of upholding this fine tradition: but then along came tiresome youths like Mr Edward Vaizey who thought it clever to disobey me.
Having tasted independence too soon, these glittering gifts to politics soon started to exaggerate their significance. Thus Mr Stephen Hilton tells the world that he determines Tory election slogans, and Mr Vaizey apparently describes himself as adviser to Kenneth Clarke (even if he had ever had that title, he ought now in his own interests to suppress it). They and their Labour cronies hardly stand comparison with Fox and Burke, who incidentally were members of the same party for most of their lives (as were Canning and the youth- ful William Lamb, who later re-emerged as the Whig Lord Melbourne). The real heroes whom my rebellious former charges Messrs Vaizey, Hilton, Bridges et al. should venerate if they want to be taken seriously as leaders of cross-party fashion are Win- ston Churchill and F.E. Smith, who were forever trying to fix up coalition govern- ments with Lloyd George before the first world war.
Meanwhile, the briefing papers and policy documents on which Tory revival in part depends no longer have the benefit of first- class political minds; and the Conservative Research Department has fallen into the hands of people incapable of attracting them or even understanding the type that is need- ed. (I do, of course, have an axe to grind!) Surely Mr Benjamin Wegg-Prosser can- not be real. The influence of certain famous novels seems to be totally out of control.
Alistair B. Cooke
68 St George's Square, London SW1
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