LETTERS A duty to be true
Sir: Charles Powell's acid review (Books, 28 September) saddens me. On the very first page of my book I point to the deformation professionnelle inherent in the work of every diarist, and I invite correction. But Sir Charles Powell offers no correction — he offers defamatory insults and abuse. I will not conduct a debate at this level of dis- course.
One statement, however, I cannot leave unchallenged. Sir Charles describes his minutes of the 1990 Chequers seminar as 'a racy account of it . . . It was the sort of colourful summary of the day's learned debate which any good reporter should produce. It remains a jolly good read . . . This is astonishing.
Surely, civil servants taking minutes at prime ministerial (or any) meetings have a different duty. Surely, their task is to record what has been said truthfully in tone, and with accuracy as to fact and detail, regard- less of the nature of the occasion.
The majority of scholars who attended the Chequers meeting do not recognise that Sir Charles Powell has produced an accu- rate summary of the discussions there. I say so in my book; others have said so, and repeatedly, elsewhere. The leaked memo- randum has caused serious damage to British interests in Europe, and it is a pity that Sir Charles Powell cannot accept this.
George Urban
Palmeira Square, Hove, Sussex
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