Letter: Tim Yeo's downfall: exercise of confused standards by the Government

Sir: In an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme this morning, Virginia Bottomley, Secretary of State for Health, was questioned about the morality of Tim Yeo's behaviour and the Government's reaction in the light of their 'back to basics' campaign.

She said that all ministers have a high public profile but that they could not be expected to live lives that were held up as examples to the people - they were only human and morality was, after all, the job of the church.

This last inference, while implying that the church somehow avoids the problem of being 'only human', is an insult to people living outside it who believe that they are capable of making good moral judgements based on sound sense. It is also a slight on members of other religions living in this country.

Yours faithfully,

DONNA PICKRELL

Beenham, Berkshire

6 January