I chuckled after reading the front-page story "Labour liner idea floated" (Argus, April 18).

Undoubtedly, if it had been possible to berth a liner between Dover and Portsmouth, it would have taken place years ago. There is no port large enough to take even a moderate-sized cruise liner. It was possible to moor liners in the sheltered waters of Sydney

Harbour but the open sea is a different matter.

The vision of delegates swaying down the ladder trying to board small boats to take them to the beach, then finding their land-legs after a night spent in a floating hotel, lashed by waves and south-westerly gales brings tears to my eyes.

I await with interest the Labour party's next loony proposal.

-Audrey Buttimer, Sackville Gardens, Hove