Nothing's changed
Sir: As your leading article (24 August) reports, there has been shock, disgust and vomit-inducing emotion expressed at Mau- rice Saatchi's peerage. All of it implies that he does not deserve a peerage because of the kind of work his company does — changing people's opinions.
I have no opinion on the worth or other- wise of the industry he works in, but no one mentions that the work he will be remem- bered for — 'Labour isn't working' and 'New Labour, new danger' — was created by employees of his, who were both
brighter and more talented than he could ever hope to be.
Perhaps it has always been this way. When Odysseus and his councillors went to Agamemnon with the wooden horse plan for entry to Troy, Agamemnon admitted that, even though it was a good plan, he couldn't put it into action. His reasoning was that everyone else would see it was such a good plan it couldn't possibly have come from him.
Odysseus knew better. 'Don't be such a prat, Ag,' he said. 'Build the horse and you'll get the credit for thinking of it.'
Has anything changed?
Stuart Mewbum
51 Sunderland Road, London SE23
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