LETTER: Standing by Roger Cook

I WOULD like to dispute three points in your profile of Roger Cook ("Looking for Mr Big", Sunday Review, 21 May).

First, the report gave the impression that our two programmes on cot death may have been wrong. In fact the correlation between levels of antimony in cot mattresses and the tissues of victims which The Cook Report's scientists found prompted the Government to set up the Limerick Committee, which has yet to report. Second, you allege that our claim that Arthur Scargill used Libyan money to make mortgage repayments was untrue. We stand by our own investigation. Third, Mr Cook is not a one-dimensional mouthpiece. He is Britain's most experienced investigative journalist whose contribution to the programme is decisive and crucial.

Robert Southgate

Editor, The Cook Report

Birmingham