An article in The Spectator of 27 May was complimentary about some of the language used in the Conservative manifesto. Alistair Lexden responded in a letter published in the magazine on 3 June.
Sir: D.J.Taylor (27 May) commends the Tory manifesto as ‘agreeably sonorous’. It must be the first to deserve such an accolade since Sir Robert Peel sent his well-turned phrases to the electors of Tamworth in 1834. A competition to establish the least sonorous would attract many entries. I would submit the rambling 30,000-word manifesto of 1997 which David Willetts recently admitted to drafting. It contains the following immortal passage: ‘we will continue to build on our record of improving safety on roll-on roll-off ferries and cargo ships through higher standards of survivability.’
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords