Letter: Luvvies ruin

From Mr John Spencer

Sir: The Workers Revolutionary Party, as Mark Lawson points out ("Farewell to the greasepaint tendency", 13 April), pioneered "thespian politics" during the 1970s, but its fate in the 1980s bears out Tony Blair's caution over Luvvies for Labour.

The Redgraves and their coterie were resented by many members of the Workers Revolutionary Party who felt they had parachuted into leading positions because of their fame and money. In the WRP split in 1985, party leader Gerry Healy kept the backing of the party glitterati, but spectacularly lost the support of the party. The road to ruin is paved with luvvie endorsements.

Yours sincerely,

JOHN SPENCER

London, SW18