23 OCTOBER 1982, Page 20

The Swiss and the SDP

Sir: When I read Colin Welch's hilari°1j3,5 diatribe (16 October) against the SPI decentralisation proposals, I could not 11_, wondering how on earth the Swiss mangy to get by. No ministry of education at S, no ministry of local government and 01 five cabinet posts plus the President ano Vice-President, yet none of the dire rest of non-centralised government which „fig Welch prophesies with such buccaneer

ii

abandon appears to have surfaced 1.11 0 century or so since the confederal Sw155 up shop. Can it be he has got his sw"..„is

wrong?

John Pap worth

24 Abercorn Place, London NW8