IT SEEMS to be a very British thing to build somebody or something up, and then to enjoy knocking them down again.

William Hague, Conservative MP for Richmond, has suffered this fate several times. I am no fan of the Conservative Party, especially not its foreign policies, but I do feel that Hague and his wife, Ffion, have been very harshly treated by the UK media and numerous folk on the internet, as regards his possible “inappropriate relationship” with his young political adviser, Christopher Myers.

William and Ffion have been forced to reveal many extremely intimate and private details about their attempts to have children. No other person has a right to know all this. All we should be certain of is: can our Foreign Secretary carry out his job and responsibilities to our nation, in the best possible way to benefit the UK? It should not matter what he does in private, so long as it is legal and non violent.

As for John Redwood accusing Hague of a lack of judgment, is it any worse than being Secretary of State for Wales and pretending to sing in Welsh by miming the Welsh national anthem on TV?

David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.