7 FEBRUARY 1998, Page 26

Sir: If Matthew Parris had not been intent on making

yet another vacuous libertarian point, he would have soon realised what the issue really was and thought again.

The allegation is that the President of the United States advised a Miss Lewinsky to break the law. No, sorry, Mr Parris, in this case anyway it has got nothing to do with being a 'left-hander', 'back-to-the-wailer', or any other traditionally 'hard-done-by' ele- ment in 'silly', intolerant Western society.

Andrew Macdonald

Flat D, 52 Sinclair Road, London W14