22 OCTOBER 1983, Page 20

Conspiracy theories

Sir: Christopher Hitchens (`The making of martyrs', 1 October) lumps the John Birch Society in with the 'anti-Jewish dolts'. This is unfair and incorrect. The Birchers believe that anti-semitism is part of the Grand Conspiracy. Robert Welch, the founder of the Society, suggests in his pamphlet 'The Neutraliser' that anti-semites have been deliberately planted in right-wing organisations in order to render them ineffective. The John Birch Society believes in the Illuminati conspiracy. The 'Communist Conspiracy' is described as simply one aspect of a world-wide conspiracy going back to 17th-century Bavaria.

Paul Rowlandson

20,\Dun-an-Oir, Castletroy, Limerick, Ireland