SIR - There are many like George Hitchcock (Letters, March 9) who seem to think that Tony Blair is simply Maggie in trousers, but before writing him off as a closet Tory they should ask themselves a couple of questions.

What Conservative Prime Minister would ever have agreed to the restoration of Trade Union rights in GCHQ, the arrest of Gen Pinochet, the freeing of Roisin McAliskey or the setting up of the Bloody Sunday enquiry?

Would Theresa May or David Cameron have agreed to a National Minimum Wage, reform of the House of Lords, devolution of power to Scotland and Wales or the banning of hunting with dogs ?

All of these are matters which only a Labour government would ever contemplate let alone enact so whatever reservations his critics may have about him, following a Conservative agenda was not one of them.

Brian Holmans, Langley Road, Bingley