Selecting our masters
LETTERS
From Alan Smith, Diana Attwood, Prudence Bellak, K. Tite, I. Gowrie, Sir James Butler, Dr I. McD. G. Stewart, Giles Playfair, John V. Bryans, John Milne. J. Iheanacho Okole, Paul Johnson, Douglas Woodruff.
Sir: Auberon Waugh (14 February) has tackled an important subject in the methods of selection of Conservative candidates but his case has been marred by the intrusion of his personal preferences. For example, is Colonel Carol Mather any more 'a Research Department worthy' than Sir Anthony Meyer? Further, it is a matter of opinion rather than fact to assert . . the issue where the left-right dichotomy most matters, which is economics.' I believe that one's fundamental attitudes are far more im- portant and would define the right as those who believe in the doctrine of original sin and the left as those who do not.
The disparaging reference to South Kensing- ton shows more prejudice than judgment. The return of Sir Brandon Rhys Williams at the by- election brought a talented addition to the Con- servative back benches. The proposals for the social services contained in his pamphlet The New Social Contract offer a useful Tory alter- native to the policies of the present government and his knowledge of managerial problems from the inside will benefit a House of Commons where such experience is at a premium. In the field of foreign affairs his recent speech at a luncheon of the Pan-European Union showed a grasp of the European situation which was a welcome change from the futile attempts to form a European coalition against France.
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