Letter: Britain is Italy

Sir: We are now governed by a gang of the worst incompetents in our history, whose pitiful and pitiless slogan of 'back to basics' stands nakedly revealed as entailing no more and no less than greed, corruption and a callous indifference to the plight of the poor and unfortunate. Great Britain is now Italy, but without the culture, and without the weather. Italy, the greatest treasure-house of civilisation in the world, will survive. Will we?

There is no time to waste. Let John Smith forget his dreams of 'this great movement of ours' once again monopolising the perks and distributing the spoils, let Paddy Ashdown renounce his absurd and offensive pretentions to replacing the Labour Party as the one alternative to the Conservatives, let the decent Tories stand up and be counted.

Let us be rid of this nasty, squalid Government. Let us have a broad-based administration devoted to solving problems, not to slogans, ideology and the abysmal school-boy debating of Prime Minister's question time.

Yours faithfully,

ARTHUR MARWICK

London, NW3