Already a subscriber? Log in
John Mounsey
London SW13
Ask a silly question
Sir: Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kavanagh tells us that the Met needs surveys to gauge public satisfaction with its work (Letters, 4 June). ‘How else are we to know if we are getting things right?’ he asks. The question reveals the sort of unreal world he inhabits. Police forces are getting things right when they prevent crime. They don’t need to be told this.
Martin D’Alessandro
By email
Pocket tally
Sir: In his interesting piece (‘The Power of the Pocket’, 4 June) Paul Johnson asserts that men’s suits have 17 pockets. I went to the wardrobe to see. My suits (mostly Italian, not Savile Row) have 11 pockets. This includes the little one below the waistband of the trousers (for coins, presumably), and one inside the jacket, low and on the left, for which I have never found a use.
I don’t wear waistcoats. Winston Churchill did and Johnson says that these had six pockets. But surely there are only four? I fear Johnson has inflated the pocket count by two.
Denis Tracey
Sydney
Keep New York boring
Sir: Brendan O’Neill says he believes it is people’s democratic right to smoke and eat whatever they want (‘The men who killed New York’, 4 June). I agree. That does not mean, however, that they are within their rights to do such things wherever they like. A place like Central Park is a public space. This should be remembered. Regarding the city’s decision to enforce the publicising of calories, surely we should be entitled to make an informed decision about a purchase? No one would buy a car without checking the mileage, so why shouldn’t we be made aware of the damage a cheeseburger can do to our health?
Brendan O’Neill describes Mayor Bloomberg as ‘boring’ because he has never smoked a cigarette. Does nicotine make someone ‘exciting’? If this is the case, I’ll remain content with my healthy, ‘boring’ lifestyle please.
David Childs
Fort William
Respect for elders
Sir: May I lend comfort to Toby Young (Status Anxiety, 28 May), with whom I share ‘Alzheimer’s onset’ anxiety. Recently I reached a swing-door at the market as a very old gentleman approached from the other side. I opened the door and he shuffled through on his ‘walker’. Safely on my side, he faced me squarely, braced himself, and spoke: ‘Thank you, my boy. Not often these days do I meet a young man with such good manners!’ ‘Thank you, sir!’ I replied — and to be sure I meant it. I am 77.
James T. Lyon
Ottowa, Canada
Randian rush
Sir: In his TV column (28 May), Simon Hoggart professed himself baffled at the thread drawn by Adam Curtis between the dime-store philosopher and all-round fruitcake Ayn Rand, and the digital elites of Silicon Valley. Curtis either didn’t know, or didn’t want to slow his argument down by pointing out, that the missing link was the Canadian ‘progressive rock’ band Rush, avowed devotees of Ms Rand, who endlessly retold (and somehow personified) the Randian fable that the clever, spotty, friendless kid in the corner would one day be vindicated and avenged — would, indeed, one day bloom into some mad sort of god. You can see the appeal of that fable to the young computer science student, I imagine.
Keith Miller
London SW8
Rights issue
Sir: David Brooks (Diary, 4 June) tells us that Gordon Brown is formulating a new theory of human rights. I wonder, will it include the right not to be bullied at work?
Currer Ball
By email
Also in Society
Also by The Spectator
Latest
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in