I think Alison Wolf is being a little disingenuous if she expects us to believe that remarks made at a conference by the head of the world's richest and most influential university should be compared with the mooted response to an "impeccably researched" book.
Lawrence Summers' remarks were not "impeccably researched", nor were they in book form. They were spoken by someone trading off his position at Harvard University. Thank heavens the Harvard faculty had the nerve to remind him of this.
Rob Gorthy
Coventry