I was grateful to lose the insects but not at all comfortable at the thought of what

I was grateful to lose the insects, but not at all comfortable at the thought of what was being added to the water by the turban.Was it an example of good local practice passed down through generations proving to be good science as well?JOHN McKELLAR.Macclesfield, Cheshire. Sir: I am very happy to know that President Mobutu has returned to Zaire "to bring a solution to the problems of the east of the country". These are the problems for which the east of the country expects him to bring a solution: the wretched girls of Idohu school, kidnapped by the retreating FAZ (Zaire Armed Forces), begging the population of Marabo to free them from their captors after days and nights of continued rape; the hungry population of Bunia with its market and shops looted and burned by the FAZ, with no way to find their daily food; the ransacked hospitals of Rwanguba, Katwa, Beni, Oicha and Rethy, pillaged by the FAZ; the nuns of Maboya, raped and murdered by the FAZ; the four truck-loads of fleeing Goma residents, women and children, massacred in cold blood by the Interahamwe, now fighting on the side of the FAZ; the girls and nuns of Institut ChemChem in Bunia, raped by the FAZ. President Mobutu could follow the example of rebels now in control of Goma; they have put deserting FAZ soldiers into a one-year retraining course, to drum it into their heads that the role of the military is to defend civilians.GWENDOLYN McKENZIENairobi. Sir: In spite of an initial impression to the contrary, Richard Dawkins's offensively bitter comments ("Surely, you must be joking", 24 December) show just how deeply he cares about the truths of Christian belief: you don't get offensive or bitter about something you couldn't give tuppence for. Since he does obviously care so much, may I suggest that he extends the scope of his religious knowledge to include theologies of the Incarnation and the Atonement other than the fundamentalist and reductionist interpretations that he attacks? They do exist. Rev DAVID CLEMENSTilbury, Essex. Sir: Sorry to disappoint Polly Toynbee ("It's time to swing back to the Sixties", 23 December), but young people of my generation, born in the Seventies, have absolutely no interest in what Jagger et al have to say. After making a few vague "anti-Establishment" gestures in their youth, most of the Baby Boom rockers have become part of that very Establishment. The late-teens and twentysomethings of 1996/97 have their own ideas, their own beliefs, and their own heroes and heroines, and look forward optimistically to the year 2000, not 1964.

The "legacy" of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties has indeed created a society very different from that of 30 years ago, and anyone who wants to get on with life doesn't waste time wondering whether this is for better or worse.Young people do admire those like Nelson Mandela, who fought (and fight) for values still vital today. Most of us have a strong sense of morality and of doing right by others, and are sick of being told what terrible times we're living through.The 21st century could be a great one. My message to the Polly Toynbees out there is this: help us build it, or leave us alone.JON MILLSMinehead, Somerset. Sir: Someone had to produce a thin scream of agony at the fact that the National Theatre is managing to delight those theatregoers who leap spontaneously to their feet at the end of each performance of Guys and Dolls, entranced by a production which only someone wedded to the idea of drama as misery could fail to enjoy.

The National is doing what it should be doing - producing a mixture of classic and modern productions and sometimes taking chances with work which may come a cropper. Julian Mitchell ("Losing the plot at the National Theatre", 21 December) demands a "marvellous new play". My own impression is that the National Theatre demands this, too; finding it is, however, not as easy as Mr Mitchell supposes.DEREK PARKERLondon W14. So Cherie Booth is to have her own adviser for the election campaign, is she? Great She needs one. Someone has to deal with columns like this one, features about Tony Blair's family life, featurettes about Cherie's taste in clothes, news stories about her latest court case, and the countless other snippets and snipes about the Labour leader's other half Everybody will want a bite at Cherie in the next few months.

And you can guarantee that most of them will dig their teeth in hard. Well let's hope they snap so hard they bite their own tongues off - because none of them have a clue what they are talking about. Chauvinists in the right-wing press rant that Ms Booth (and you can hear them hissing as they say "Mizzzzz") is too pushy, and should stay quietly at home. On the other hand, the people who ought to identify with her predicament - women who have fought against gender stereotypes all their lives - lambaste her for compromising, for cuddling Tony in public, and even editing an issue of the popular women's magazine Prima. Both sides, it seems, would rather she simply shut up and remained on the sidelines. The fact that she is to have an election campaign aide to herself will get them all salivating again.But the truth is that the spouse of a political leader can't slip silently into the shadows these days - it isn't possible Voters want to know how human their politicians are. The quickest way of proving humanity - particularly for a man - is to produce a wife. A Mrs in the wings is shorthand for: I can look after people, love people and support people.

And guess what, I am heterosexual; loveable and fanciable, too.There are other ways to produce a credible hinterland, but this is the fastest and, in these intolerant times, the most acceptable. Keep that spouse under wraps, on the other hand, and people become suspicious, curious and fascinated. And opponents gleefully conclude that the wife or husband may be a weak point to attack.So spousie has to have a public persona - even if it is only rolled out once in a while Denis had one, Norma had one, so did Glenys Now Cherie has one, too. And there is little point in slagging them off for the particular public roles they have each been landed with - because each has had little freedom to manoeuvre. Political partners are trapped; cornered by voters' prejudices, media hypocrisy and by their own commitment to the party, and to the politician they share their beds with.