Sir, - There is no doubt that Robert McCartney is a man of considerable intellect. However his "Report on Consent" tends to give credence to the view of former Premier Harold Macmillan that we should "distrust the clever man". His report misquotes the Joint Declaration of 1993. The Declaration, which I have read and a copy of which is beside me now, reads in paragraph 4: "The Prime Minister . . . reiterates, on behalf of the British government, that they have no selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland."However, page 6 of Mr McCartney's report declares: "The British Government stated that it had no selfish, strategic or economic interest in remaining in Northern Ireland." Can you spot the difference? Mr McCartney's placing of a comma between "selfish" and "strategic" is an example of very effective manipulation of the complex grammar of the English language. The statement in the Declaration, which contains no comma, is one whereby the British government makes clear that whatever strategic and economic interest there might be in remaining in Northern Ireland is not to be used for the selfish gain of the government, i.e. the treasury.I cannot believe that a man as meticulous about what others say and print could possibly publish a document, the rationale of a large part of which is based upon this "mistake", without realising it. I believe that his version implies that the British government simply had no interest in Northern Ireland whatsoever.Moreover, page 7 displays a photograph of Peter Brooke getting into a car and waving to the cameras. The caption reads: "Goodbye Northern Ireland - no selfish, no strategic, no economic interest in remaining." Like so many of the "little Ulstermen" who sit upon the Unionist benches at Stormont and Westminster, Mr McCartney is intent on portraying all British governments as facilitators of a united Ireland. Such people are only too willing to believe that a British government, of any colour, will fail to uphold the expressed will of the majority of the 11/2 million people of Northern Ireland. It seems to have escaped their memories that in 1982-3 British soldiers fought and died to secure the wishes of a few people and a great many sheep several thousand miles away on the Falkland Isles.It is very sad that Mr McCartney chooses to try to persuade the Northern Irish to make them believe that their own government wishes to disown them. As a Conservative I take exception to the slurring of John Major's integrity. Mr McCartney may treat his own party with contempt, but on his own head be it if he treats the electorate similarly. We may not all be QCs, but we are able to read.Just one more thing: the "e" is missing from "Brooke" in the Peter Brooke caption - but maybe Mr McCartney could blame that one on the publishers. - Yours, etc., Alan James Greer,
Conservative Future (NI) Press Officer, Ballyclare, Co Antrim.