4 APRIL 1998, Page 28

At knifepoint

Sir: I find the sheer arrogance of the British government scarcely credible when it is dealing with the legitimate activities of French salesmen in France. What business is it of the likes of Tony Banks or his col- leagues if the French choose to sell an attractive souvenir knife with the 1998 World Cup logo on it? Our government, unlike the French one, is afraid that the population which they are supposed to serve cannot be trusted to obey laws telling them not to stab each other. Perhaps the same champions of British law and order can explain why Tony Banks was not imme- diately arrested for importing offensive weapons and conspiring to import them.

Tim Jeffreys

Kidlington, Oxon