Edward Weston
Oct 25 1990
Dear Mr Weston,

You sound OK to me. Your party sounds OK to me. And as you have mentioned nothing about financial reward to me, I have no hesitation in saying you can use both pieces without further ado, as long as you mention that they appeared in The Independent. You could ask their permission, I suppose, but normally when no money (= no profit) is involved, they lose all interest, shrug their shoulders and say: “Well, if Kington wants to bankrupt us, that’s his look-out.” There are lots of precedents for this – only last week a magistrate’s newsletter used a piece of mine, and the crime rate had already shot up. The Independent raised no eyebrows over that or any other reprint. What they prefer doing is reprinting pieces of mine in New Zealand and pocketing all the proceeds. I don’t say they do that, but it’s what they prefer.

I don’t remember the PR piece. But then, I didn’t remember the Lord Hailsham piece. Good luck in the election – I would gladly sell you my vote, but I am in the wrong area.

Yours sincerely