Saddam has frequently denied the inspectors free access to sites. Because Saddam Hussein has not allowed Unscom to fulfil its mandate, sanctions continue to be enforced.The Iraqi leader holds the key to free his people from their unnecessary affliction. An attempt to attribute the Iraqi people's anguish to United Nations sanctions lets Saddam Hussein off the hook.ERIC BERMANExecutive Director, UN WatchGeneva. Sir: I hope your headline, "Bleak outlook for bugging Bill" (24 January) means that it will be much more closely scrutinised when it returns to Parliament. I am not the only Catholic to feel horrified that the proposed law would give our police the power to bug any sacramental confessions made to a Catholic priest. A Home Office spokeswoman has confirmed this, saying that "there are no loopholes and exemptions at the moment". Whatever happened to freedom of religion? A Catholic priest may never reveal what is said to him under the seal of confession. A priest in Co Durham went to prison in the last century for refusing to tell a court what a suspect had said to him in confession.Now many ordinary innocent Catholics would be denied the guaranteed confidentiality that is their right; no one would know when or where legal bugging is to take place.
Catholic police officers would experience questions of conscience in these new duties.HUGH LINDSAYGrange-over-Sands, CumbriaThe writer was Catholic Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, 1974-1992. Sir: The two British designers currently taking the Paris couture world by storm are not the first in this field. Born in Lincolnshire in the mid-1850s, Frederick Worth, a successful dressmaker in London, tried his luck in Paris and became an instant success with some of the greatest beauties in the land. Many of the fabulous dresses worn by the Empress Eugenie and her ladies in paintings by Winterhalter are by Worth, and it is said that he invented - or at least popularised - the crinoline. The House of Worth continued to flourish both in Paris and in London for over 100 years, and is still remembered today in the scent "Je Reviens". SARA DICK-READWinchester. Sir: As a local boy (albeit from the other side of the Mersey) Andreas Whittam-Smith (article, 20 January) should know better than to cite Royal Insurance as a financial operation that has left Liverpool. Royal Insurance (now Royal & SunAlliance) maintains a substantial presence in Liverpool, as it has done since 1845, and is currently among the largest five employers in the city.
The head offices of two of the group's principal operating divisions are based in the city. ANTHONY ANNAKIN-SMITH Communications ManagerRoyal & SunAllianceLiverpool. Sir: At last, an educational policy I can support! ("Plan to raise school cadets", 23 January.) Thirty-five years ago my experience in the school cadets taught me a lot. Social skills - how to subvert orders and avoid detection; leadership skills - how to get your mates to join in the latest scam; a sense of cameraderie - pride in being termed the "sod squad". And as for the weapons training, it's quite a skill to explode field telephones when you're meant to be firing at targets. Did Mr Major have similar formative experiences at school? CHRIS WATKINSLondon N19. So, when it comes down to it, it's back to basics.