Letter: Darling's defence

"There's such divinity doth hedge a king", said Hamlet, and the same kind of aura seems to envelop the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Gordon Brown managed to occupy the second most important post in government without becoming tarnished by Tony Blair's mistakes and misjudgments, and now Alistair Darling has used the occasion of the Edinburgh Book Festival to "defend his stance and pin the blame for Labour's election defeat squarely on the shoulders of his former boss and allies" (your report, 17 August). In other words, "it wisnae me".

At least, thanks to the carefully planted "leaks" in your article, I don't need to buy a ticket now to hear the Infallible One for myself.

HARRY D WATSON

Braehead Grove

Edinburgh