Letter: In Brief

Sir: The Government speaks with forked tongue. As a parent, I am told that the Department of Education aims to improve literacy skills, whilst my son's school newsletter advertises the News of the World for a free books offer. As a GP I am being pressured by the Department of Health to take steps to reduce patients' smoking, yet my journey to the surgery takes me past large billboards advertising the habit. What hope have our children of making sense of such mixed messages?

J. MENAGE

Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire