Sir: One is rarely surprised these days to see public
reviling of the recently dead, but John Sweeney's attack on the late Michael Horton (16 January) surely lacks in logic as well as taste.
It can hardly be as an adulterer that Michael Horton was called 'one of the biggest shits' he had ever met. If so, Mr Sweeney indeed moves in cloistered circles and we must anticipate equally erudite comments on leading members of the Cabinet should they also be murdered. They tell me (but of course I find it hard to believe) that even magazine journalists stray into that particular sin.
So what must have disturbed Mr Sweeney is Horton's public relations alleged counselling of the Argentine Fas- cist regime. That criticism raises interesting questions of ethics and taste. Is any cause so loathsome that it must be denied PR advice? If so our profession differs basical- ly from barristers (who defend Moors murderers without such attack) or doctors (who attend wounded terrorists).
A basis of refusing PR assistance might be if the client is causing loss of life. But then where does one stand with, say, a Miner's Leader or a Prime Minister whose policies result in violence and even mur- der, albeit not directly intended. Let us hear Mr Sweeney address these issues before casting his crude stones. I was Chairman of the UK Public Rela- tions Consultants Association when Michael Horton returned here from a distinguished career in Canada. He was a skilled colleague and a model employer. I trust you will allow that comment at least to stand to his record in your pages.
Douglas Smith
32 Westminster Mansions, Great Smith Street, London SW1
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