Letter

DONALD MACINTYRE reports that British ministers are talking of weeding out rebels through the Tory Party candidate selection process ('PM must please or be punished', 7 February). From Rome, Patricia Clough writes that political changes in Italy mean that members of the same party have to compete for votes with each other as well as with other parties ('Power corrupts - Italian style'). Which is better? Letting electors decide between candidates of the same party whose views differ? Or allowing this to be done by party apparatchiks?

Norman Gerrard, Surrey