Patten's foibles
From Mr Henry Keswick Sir: Commissioner Patten's meddling in the affairs of Israel and Palestine (Letters, 10 August) is bad news for the ordinary people of both states who crave peace.
The Commissioner's brand of diplomacy is driven by vanity and the wish to obtain cheap headlines from self-contrived controversy (both in Hong Kong and Northern Ireland). If he had shown greater patience and diplomatic skills, and listened to advice in Hong Kong, it would have been possible to have won greater democracy for Hong Kong than was eventually achieved, after charging around like a bull in a China shop — excuse the pun —with ever-diminishing returns.
Mr Patten is being cheeky in lecturing us about Yasser Arafat being the democratically elected Palestinian leader. The Commissioner himself is an appointed official of the EU with no democratic standing or accountability, except to his own self-indulgence. Douglas Davis (Massacre of the truth', 20 July) was right to point out his foibles.
Henry Keswick
London EC3
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