It is almost 85 years since the publication of the forged Zinoviev letter which put paid to the hopes of Ramsay MacDonald s moderate Labour party of achieving the first majority government Ironically, the ability of reactionary elements in our society, of

It is almost 85 years since the publication of the forged Zinoviev letter which put paid to the hopes of Ramsay MacDonald's moderate Labour party of achieving the first majority government

Ironically, the ability of reactionary elements in our society, often members of the Conservative party, to manipulate the media and often indulge in political chicanery remains unabated. In the case of the Zinoviev letter, the two newspapers concerned were compliant. The return of Baldwin's second Conservative government brought dubious results. In seven months he signed the treaty of Locarno, which crystallised the disastrous appeasement policy contributing to the Second World War, put sterling on the gold standard with equally disastrous results, precipitating the general striker (1926) and the great depression (1929).

This year has seen "expensesgate" effect a series of elections and expose the indulgence of our leaders and law makers. The BNP received �5million for their pains, and the government was seriously wounded. Again, a piece of political chicanery may lead to profound future implications. We shall see.

Even in the Crow, the manipulation goes on. The letter from the Osbournes last week (Postbag, October 8) amounts to errant nonsense. You cannot have the �3.7million to spend on anything else but the capital project of the underpass. If you do not spend it on that, then the money is lost to allocation elsewhere in the County, or clawed back by the grateful exchequer. Royston would lose out again, as would Hertfordshire.

From the perspective of Echo Hill there may seem to be little justification for building a breach in the main schism in the town. They do not say that down Burns Road! There is a genuine resentment that is it convenient to have the town in two distinct neighbourhoods connected only by a railway bridge - �3.7million looks like a ha'porth of tar in terms of the engagement of people for a small, North Herts, market town. From my reading of the Eurotunnel website, it looks like a farthing compared to what Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterand threw down a hole near Folkstone (approximately �3.5billion).

I would like to thank my good friend Tony Turner (still the Mayor of Odsey?) for releasing me from my tormentor of Green Drift in the last week's correspondence page. At times it felt like I was climbing 200 Scottish Munro's again! An inadequate but significant reward has been placed behind the bar at the Jester hotel for him and his good friend the former Royston cinema projectionist. My visa to the Grand Duchy is still valid. I would have said I was more like Ken "Muscles" Rosewell myself, but McEnroe is ample flattery.

Carlo Zambonini

Old North Road

Royston