A selection of correspondence from the Spear’s postbag.
Extermination of Exiles
Dear Sir,
I found Andrei Navrozov’s interview with Michael Cherney (The Fugitive, WMS 10) most fascinating. It provided another insight (as if one were needed) into how interconnected the Russian oligarchs are and how much they must defer to the government’s interference. There is no arena which it cannot meddle with, and its critics have a habit of winding up dead.
Related
As a counterblast, I am pleased to see that he has found sanctuary in London. However, we must be vigilant and protective of those who come over here from Russia (indeed, from everywhere) in fear of their lives. I recall the days of the assassination of Georgi Markov, which had a hideous recurrence in the death of Alexander Litvinenko, who suffered slowly in a London hospital.
There are too many high-profile Russians over here for this to happen to all of them, but that does not mean we must not be wary.
Steven Masburg
London
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Content from our partners
The Joy of Giving
Dear Sir,
I must congratulate you on your article on philanthrocapitalism (Payback Time, WMS 10). Having read this article, I then noticed a flood more on the theme in the rest of the press — but Spear’s was first.
Priority aside, I have been contemplating how I can donate my time and skills, rather than solely my money, to charities, so I am very pleased to have learnt about Pilotlight. It is the incarnation of the idea that there is more to helping the third sector than blank cheques and disinterest.
Peter Ambridge
Guildford, Surrey
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Was the Party Politic?
Dear Sir,
I was pleased to see that the staff of Spear’s and London’s beau monde are still enjoying themselves in the pictures from the Spear’s Wealth Management Awards. What a fine time everyone seemed to be having!
One could scarcely guess that the US Congress had rejected a bail-out or predict that the following months would bring chaos and carnage to the financial markets and the wider economy. Actually, one could.
Is it really appropriate at this time for Spear’s to celebrate those who have brought the economy to its knees?
Maria Compton
London
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Is This Haven or Hell?
Dear Sir,
Spear’s seems to have an ambivalent attitude towards tax havens: in two issues, you give a comprehensive and well-informed guide to them, then in the next you warn people to stay away (How to Spend It, WMS 10). This is hardly a clarity of thought or consistency of purpose. What is the point in advising us to ‘stash the cash’ in one place when you later damn it?
Henry Taplow
Wilmslow, Cheshire
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Poetry in Motion, Please
Dear Sir,
<p> With all the tantalising descriptions of Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof’s bejewelled creations (Rock God, WMS 10), it is a shame you could not have some video of one in motion!
Michael Santorelli
Paris
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Luxe Can Be Deceiving
Dear Sir,
I like fast cars, vintage wine and heirloom watches as much as the next City gent, but is now the time to be devoting pages and pages to them? Perhaps Spear’s might show a little sensitivity, or at least delicacy, when blazoning trinkets and trophies across its spreads.
The luxury market itself is in a nosedive, with conglomerations reporting falls in profits across the globe, so we may confidently assume that your readers are pulling in their sails. Are these articles now worthy information, as before, or mere luxury pornography?
No-one is suggesting that sackcloth and ashes are the order of the day, but an awareness of the realities of the world today might be nice.
Anthony Barry
Oxshott, Surrey
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We welcome letters to the editor: please send any contributions to: Letters, Spear’s WMS, 5 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TD or email letters@luxurypublishing.com
