IT HELPS at times to get beyond current events and see them in the possible perspective of the future.

I think it possible that UK foreign policy in our time may be seen as a period of madness. One’s fury at what is going on can be tempered by a few relatively cool observations.

First, neither nation with which we are at war is a proven threat to our nation. War is, in anycase, a clumsy weapon against terrorism. Second, there are a score of other nations where oppression is common. Libya is the latest one to be selected.

Crusades (Blair-style), like those of old, usually cause more misery than they pretend to avoid.

The UK and France are alone in pressing for a heavy bombing policy. We, the British, as usual, have had no say in these matters; £250 million is the latest (not the final) figure for the Libyan campaign.

Meanwhile, in Britain the needs of children, of the aged, the handicapped, the funds needed for hospitals, schools, cultural facilities, care of public transport and of animals and the environment, are more at risk.

Roy Stevens, Willow Bank, New Earswick, York.