Letter: Carla: the best pasta cook in London

Letter: Carla: the best pasta cook in London

YOUR ARTICLE on Carla Powell, "Her part in Peter's fall" (2 January), was a disgraceful farrago of sneer, smear and innuendo, full of inaccuracies.

As one example, you recycle a claim that Jimmy Goldsmith disparaged her connection to his Referendum Party; she and her husband, Charles, were staying with me when that claim was first published - Goldsmith called to say it was completely untrue and he recommended she sue. Your behaviour suggests she should have done so.

I have known Carla Powell for almost 30 years. She is a wonderful friend - as her loyalty to Peter Mandelson shows. She is also generous, articulate and very good fun. She adds value wherever she goes - which is more than can be said of your paper in its present mean-spirited mode.

You owe her at the very least a handsome apology.

WILLIAM SHAWCROSS

St Mawes, Cornwall