LETTER OF THE WEEK

Pilger's patronising line

John Pilger (World Citizen, 21 September) repeats again how Tony Blair bears "ultimate responsibility" for the attacks of July 2005, and claims that if the Afghan war brought a similar atrocity Gordon Brown would be equally responsible.

If the Prime Minister's immigration policy provokes racists to explode bombs on the Tube, will Pilger say Brown bears "ultimate responsibility" for that? What about an outrage by economists incited to terrorism by his mishandling of the economy? Or is it only British Muslims that Pilger patronises by assuming that, if upset by foreign policy, they are not moral agents and do not bear responsibility for their acts?
Jon McLellan
Guernsey

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Up in arms

I read Ken Livingstone's interview with the Hamas leader Khaled Meshal (21 September) with interest. Meshal's stories of suffering in the occupied territories were measured and moving. So, it was with some shock that I came across the first of three half-page advertisements for BAE Systems in the middle of the article. How can you accept money from arms manufacturers? The NS has long criticised New Labour's failure to deliver an ethical foreign policy. Perhaps it should lead by example with an ethical advertising policy.
Joe Smith
Liverpool

Invincible

You successfully puncture the mythology surrounding perceptions of a gentle, articulate Vince Cable (The Politician, 14 September) by questioning
the reality of his earlier position on financial regulation, his prescience on the demise of the global economy, his role at Shell Oil and his reticence in speaking about the killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa.

This is much to my sorrow and, I expect, to many others', too, who yearn for some untainted messiah in politics who can unify us all. I am now drying my tears.
Rosie Brocklehurst
St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex

Crow bar

Asked if union leaders are paid too much, Bob Crow of the RMT says it is up to his members to decide how much he receives (Trade Union Guide 2010, 14 September). This is the same self-serving claptrap that corporate CEOs come out with when they say it's up to shareholders to decide how much they earn.
Ivor Morgan
Lincoln

Skiffle time

My dad's interpretation of American folk-blues became the cornerstone of British rock and pop. "All roads lead to Donegan," as musicians say. Michael Hodges (Arts, 14 September) points out that those who facilitated the skiffle movement played a large part in shaping Britain's rock-blues culture, which spread worldwide from the 1960s.
Lonnie Donegan Jr
www.lonniedoneganjnr.com

Go for it, Gideon

Gideon Donald's column combines entertainment with political insightfulness. Having just seen the subject of one of the mystery Tory's weekly accounts interviewed on the BBC's One Show, I'm convinced Alan Davies may well be ready to "come out as a Tory" (Preparing for Power,
7 September). While plugging his book, Davies let slip that Margaret Thatcher was one of his all-time heroes and in effect apologised for his former beliefs when he joked that there were only four members of the Epping Forest Young Socialists.

I will certainly be looking to see how Gideon's forecasts play out in future. James Graham
Newington, Kent

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