Letter: David Mellor's resignation in the current chaos of British politics

Sir: On Thursday, Parliament met, recalled to discuss in a great set-piece debate Britain's place in Europe and its economic predicament - issues of the moment, over which the Government's credibility is at stake.

On the same evening the BBC's early evening news reports led not with this notable parliamentary occasion, nor with the loss of several thousand jobs in industry. Instead, it began with what appeared to be moving encomiums for the former Secretary of State for National Heritage.

The popular press has been anxious to persuade the public that in according David Mellor such undue prominence of late they have been motivated by matters of public import, not by any desire for prurient titillation. On a day when he performed indifferently in a very important debate, John Major must have found his disappointment at his friend's resignation tempered by the trivial news values of these lofty and impartial commentators.

Yours sincerely,

K. A. HERRING

London, SW11

25 September