2 JANUARY 1993, Page 21

Not guilty

Sir: Ian Buruma writes ('Germany's deep well of hate', 5 December) of the right-wing demo he attended in Halle, Germany, on 9 November 1991, and of the press confer- ence that evening in a shabby neo-Nazi squatters' house. 'And there was our own David Irving,' he adds, 'skulking in the background.' May I plead not guilty? After making the opening speech from the back

of a lorry (my pronouncement, 'You com- mitted no war crimes!' was shown that night on ITV without my explanatory refer- ence to the overwhelming youth of the audience) I left Halle around 5 p.m. for the Ruhr, being an independent sort of chap.

David Irving

81 Duke Street, London W1