From Mark Taha As a social libertarian, I disagree with
many of Melanie Phillips's attitudes. Her call for small shops in towns to be preserved at the expense of supermarkets is what the American libertarian philosopher Dr Nathaniel Branden called 'the divine right of stagnation'. The butcher, baker, candlestick-maker et al must take their chance in the free market — they do not have a divine right to customers. Does Miss Phillips really want to return to the days of compulsory early closing, Resale Price Maintenance and no Sunday shopping?
Furthermore, Sir Peregrine Worsthorne is wrong (Books, 18 October). Mrs Thatcher's government's legislation was responsible for the mass closure of sex shops. She introduced censorship of videos and, I believe, supported the draconian Howarth Bill. My opinion of censorship is like Abraham Lincoln's of slavery — when I hear a man argue in its favour, I feel a strong desire to see it
tried out on him personally. My attitude towards Mrs Thatcher was one of critical support — critical, basically, of the above, her 'wet' policies regarding Rhodesia, Europe, Northern Ireland and the race relations industry, and her 'dry' policies of forcing through the poll tax and being too hard on the poor.
Mark Taha
London SE26
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