Objectivity questioned

learn to abide by the rules and not cause these disturbances to other passengers and the crew who must dread being allocated these flights.

Dr James Vaughan (JC Feb 17) reports that, in 1981, John Robinson’s infamous telegram “Can Israel Survive?” was summarised by the Foreign Office’s Oliver Miles. Miles wrote of “Zionist ingenuity and ruthlessness” which might prevail in the short term.

Miles was not the unemotional and objective observer he claimed to be. An Oxford educated Arabist, his Foreign Office postings included Jordan, Yemen, Aden and Saudi Arabia, before he was appointed Ambassador to Libya in 1984.

In 2004, Miles was the instigator of an ill-judged open letter to Tony Blair, expressing what the Sun described as “poisonous views” on the government’s Middle East policies. Five years later, he questioned the appointments of Sir Martin Gilbert and Sir Lawrence Freedman to the Iraq inquiry panel, citing their Jewish background.

Stuart Lyons CBE,

London SW10