Letter: Replacing orange with green

Sir: As a backwoodsman Conservative peer with a poor attendance record in the House of Lords, due to office hours rather than lack of interest, I read with interest Lord Rothermere's panegyric to Tony Blair (report, 26 May).

I have some sympathy with what Lord Rothermere said, but what does stick in the gullet is that this comes from somebody who, presumably because he does not wish to pay tax in this country, lives in Paris. He is, I assume, only permitted to spend 90 days in England's "green and pleasant land" each year. How does he therefore aspire to know anything of the coming of what he calls "political maturity" and of who is best suited to govern this country?

Lord Rothermere is on record as saying that although he has sworn the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty in Parliament and sat down on the Labour benches he has no intention of following the Labour whip.

The Prime Minister may not be so amused to see Lord Rothermere vote against the Government; nor indeed should Lord Rothermere be disappointed if the quarantine rules are not changed to allow his beloved pooch to travel freely from the canine parlours of Paris to those of London.

If Lord Rothermere believes that this is the way to boost the circulation of his publications, I beg to differ.

Earl DE LA WARR

Buckhurst Park,

Sussex