LETTER: Tony's friends

From Dr James Hemming

Sir: In attacking Tony Blair for having a bunch of buddies ("Tony's friends: the group that guides a leader", 11 August) Richard Burden, Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, is showing an extraordinary ignorance of history and humanity. All leaders, along with the rest of us, need a group of intimates with whom to interact, apart from other affiliations.

When politics is the issue, what we need to fear are not chummy leaders but the ones who are egotistical and isolated, such as Stalin and Hussein.

Yours sincerely,

James Hemming

Teddington, Middlesex