BNP is party of the Left
From Lord Tebbit
Sir: Oh dear! Oh dear! How can we expect the Guardian and the BBC to get it right when the Telegraph and even The Spectator (Leading article, 22 April) fall into the trap of calling the BNP an extreme right-wing party. In my book it is left-wing, not right-wing, to oppose both capitalism and free trade, and to promote a ‘significant direction of the commanding heights of the economy’ as well as workers’ co-operatives and programmes of nationalisation including, of all things, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, all of which are part of the BNP manifesto.
Of course the BBC/Guardian establishment regards anyone who advocates patriotism, escape from the European Union and control of immigration as ‘extreme right-wing’, but I find many of my left-wing friends are patriotic, anti-EU and in favour of tough immigration controls. Unfortunately the ruling clique of New Labour is not, but then perhaps someone would tell me if my party is.
Tebbit
London SW1
Credulous, moi?
From Peter Riddell
Sir: Peter Oborne has departed from his usual standards of balance and fairness. In his column (Politics, 22 April) he describes me as being among ‘the more credulous Blairite commentators’ in accepting that everything in the NHS is ‘fundamentally on course’ when I wrote in the Times that the Prime Minister is ‘correct that the overall deficit is small and there is no overall NHS “crisis”’. However, Oborne omits my next sentence: ‘But the severe problems in some hospitals are producing real pain for some patients as well as damaging headlines in the press.’ I am sure he will agree that this gives a very different impression and shows that I am far from credulous.
Peter Riddell
Chief political commentator, The Times
London E1
Parris is worth a Mass
From the Revd Thomas Crean OP
Sir: Matthew Parris’s claim that the Church has ignored or effectively repudiated the teachings of Jesus Christ (Another voice, 22 April) is not based on a careful study of those teachings.
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