Lead astray
Sir: It is a matter of regret to me that Motability has apparently some responsi- bility for having provoked an uncharacter- istically petulant article (The lead balloon goes up', 18 February) from Mr Des Wilson, whom I remember from the early 1970s as enjoying an impressive reputation as a courageous advocate of the need to supply housing and other social needs. As the then Chairman of the Housing Cor- poration, I was in a good position to recognise his value and I do not believe that the Des Wilson of those days would have cared a fig about who was invited to what. And from my knowledge of Mr Godfrey Bradman, I can endorse Mr Wil- son's belief that he would be equally in- different.
Mr and Mrs Wilson were in fact invited to the launch by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and were indeed pre- sent, although, sheltering in the rain, my lameness supported by a single camp fol- lower, I did not have the pleasure of meeting them. That Mr Bradman was not invited was undoubtedly an unfortunate omission. Mr Bradman's important con- tribution to the lead-free campaign happily has achieved recognition.
I hope by now that Mr Wilson's ruffled feathers will have been rearranged. Since I myself have received honours far in excess of my deserts, I must leave others to remind Mr Wilson that in public life 'virtue is its own reward'.
May I with deliberate flippancy, as one of those fingered, inform your readers that even with my present reduced girth, while `bowing' would have been just a possibil- ity, 'scraping' would have been a total impossibility without the support of four strong men.
Goodman
9-11 Fulwood Place, Gray's Inn, London WC1
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