Peter Oborne (Comment, last week) is wrong to suggest New Labour is about to embrace democracy again. Since Charles Clarke was appointed to oversee the party, there have been an enormous number of promises of open democracy. Not one has been backed by action.
Trevor Fisher
Stafford
A different Diana
References to Princess Diana's death (News and Review, last week) prompt me to put her life into a different perspective: of a young woman who against the odds transformed the public's attitude to HIV/Aids. People have forgotten that panic about Aids reached such a pitch that some public figures argued people affected by the 'gay plague' should be committed indefinitely to isolation hospitals. Pictures of Diana cuddling a young Aids patient banished such views forever.
Sir Donald Acheson
London E8
