Letter: Major's outburst beggars belief

Sir: John Major's outburst against the poor and vulnerable in the shape of beggars is at least maladroit and is certainly scandalous.

In so renailing his colours to the mast, he has affirmed the fundamental ideology of the party which has brought the United Kingdom to its knees - which is an ideology incompatible with the values and principles of the Christian faith to which some Conservatives profess adherence. It will be interesting to see how Mr Gummer and others square this particular circle.

There's one other point. It is not a question, as Douglas Hurd has asserted, of his party having a 'winning message . . . if we can get it through'; the message is only too clear to most people in the country. It is a question of the message - with its underlying ideology - being unacceptable to the majority of people in Britain.

Unfortunately, even a spectacularly disastrous result in the coming European elections is unlikely to change the Government's mind and direction.

Yours sincerely,

ADAM THOMSON

Brussels

28 May