THE Times obituary column of December 8, 1998, announced the death at the age of 86 of Baron Robert Rochschild, Belgium Ambassador to Britain from 1973 to 1976, during the reign of Prime Minister Edward Heath.

The two were great friends and linked in many ways - both were rabid Euro enthusiasts and instrumental in Britain's full absorption.

Robert Rothschild welcomed the event of Mao Tse-Tung who gained power in China in 1949 through a peasant army, Mao's slogan being, "Political power through the barrel of a gun".

That power attained, he attempted the transformation of traditional Chinese society by means of "thought reform", indoctrination and the psychological transformation of the masses.

Edward Heath's admiration for Mao is well known and documented by none other than himself.

Doesn't this ring some bells in British society circa 1999?

SYLVIA NOBLE (MRS), Albert Road, Colne.

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