Confused about Hitchens
From Lord Lawson of Blaby Sir: Conrad Black (Books, 19 May) writes: llitchens mustn't be confused with the facts.'
This disease seems to run in the family, as evidenced by Peter Hitchens's long and error-strewn article in the same issue. One example: he writes, 'The worst retreat of all was over the family, where the Thatcher government announced — through Nigel Lawson's tax system — that it didn't care if parents were married or not, and at one stage actively favoured the unwed over the wed through mortgage interest relief.' The truth is that the tax system the Thatcher government inherited discriminated against marriage in just two ways: by the muchresented lack of privacy allowed to married (as against unmarried) women, and by the more favourable treatment of unmarried couples (as against married couples) when it came to mortgage interest relief. When Chancellor, I brought both these longstanding forms of discrimination to an end.
Nigel Lawson
House of Lords, London SW!
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