By contrast and maybe as fallout from Darwinism we tend to equate innovation with

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By contrast, and maybe as fallout from Darwinism, we tend to equate innovation with progress, and label anything else as pastiche: an attitude not confined to architecture.Perhaps some of the 2.2 million National Trust members are not simply fantasists, but are fed up with this more ruthless - and less justifiable - 20th-century cockiness.Yours faithfully,JOHN WOODWARKWinchester2 June. Our "cocky" Georgian forebears were happy to admit that people in the past had had excellent ideas, on which they could see no immediate way to improve, and they lifted whole facades from classical buildings. There may be something in it, and it is certain that the National Trust's fly- in-amber policy begs many interesting questions. However, observant readers will have noticed that the photograph of the restored dining-room that accompanies the article is dominated by two classicalpilasters. From Dr.

John Woodwark Sir: Jonathan Glancey's article on Uppark ("A fantasy, lovingly rebuilt", 2 June) asserts that life in Britain today is so full of changes and chances that we positively need a country-house fantasy to fall back on. From Mr Yehuda Shapiro Sir: Our sympathies must go to Roy Sutherland, defrauded of pounds 1,000 on the Internet (report, 2 June). However, is life in cyberspace really so dull that it must be spiced up with chilli sauce ordered on the World Wide Web, albeit direct from California?Yours faithfully,YEHUDA SHAPIROLondon, NW82 June. Equipment failure in the innumerable established projects worldwide is negligible.Yours faithfullyTOM STACEYDirectorThe Offender's Tag AssociationLondon, W84 June. With the exception of the misconceived 1989 pilot projects here in Britain, far from being "inglorious", the history of tagging has been one of increasingly convincing achievement in the handling of offenders, the changing of behavioural patterns, and the consequent reduction of recidivism.If pre-pilot scheme trials technical faults have been found in the adaptation of US equipment to British telecommunications technology, delaying the Manchester start by a few weeks, it seems to us that this is precisely what such trials are intended to solve. The head of the Corrections Service in the State of Michigan has reckoned that the tag has saved the state building three new prisons. This picture goes with a success rate - in terms of the absence of violation by the offender of the tag regime - of over 90 per cent in the many projects where monitoring by the tag is used.This association was launched publicly in 1982, with its first national press conference in early 1983 - all before anything started in the United States in the field of tagging. At any time, some 50,000 offenders worldwide are kept out of prison through the use of the home curfew tag. It is also on the increase worldwide, with its recent introduction into Sweden, its extensive and established use in Singapore for the rehabilitation and early release of drug offenders, and in British Columbia (where 14 per cent of custodiable offenders are now kept out of prison on the tag) and elsewhere in Canada.

From Mr Tom Stacey Sir: Contrary to the assertion ("Tagging delay as US equipment fails", 1 June) of the Association of Chief Officers of Probation, the use of the electronic tag in penology in the US is steeply on the increase. This may offend Russian sentiment regarding fellow Orthodox Slavs, but does anyone really believe that Russia is prepared seriously to defy almost the rest of the world in order to prevent the effective implementation of UN undertakings that it has already agreed to? Moreover, it may be useful to remind ourselves of where the sympathies of over 40 Muslim countries lie.Yours faithfully,SHAHEEN CHUGHTAILondon, NW431 May. Past events indicate that the Karadjic Serbs are to a great degree both opportunistic and logical: defiant so long as their defiance seems to pay off, much less so when confronted by strong, effective opposition. First, a more effective Unprofor would preserve the few but significant successes the UN has achieved in Bosnia.Second, the crucial deterrence factor usually enjoyed by great military powers, but so transparently squandered, could be re-established, eventually obviating the need for repeated military action. Under such circumstances, any talk of a British or French withdrawal or abandonment of beleaguered enclaves designated as UN "safe areas" provides further encouragement to the hostage-takers, betrays the sacrifices already made by those involved in the humanitarian effort, undermines the future of the UN's humanitarian role globally and questions the right of Britain and France to retain their permanent seats on the UN Security Council.On the other hand, a carefully managed yet robust and consistent display of military superiority would have two effects.