Letter: Policy by phone-in

Sir: John Major was spurred into intervening in the plight of the wounded children of Sarajevo by phone calls from the public to Downing Street.

I don't know how many phone calls that would have been, but it does seem to set a useful precedent for forming government policy. For example, if everyone who is against rail privatisation rings No 10 in the next week or so, it should ensure that the Bill is swiftly dropped from the next session of Parliament.

Yours faithfully,

A. N. DAVIES

King's Heath,

Birmingham

15 August