Letter: Keynes the polite Alf Garnett

Keynes the polite Alf Garnett

Sir: Further to Diane Coyle' s account of the alleged racism of John Maynard Keynes ("A Keynesian view on race worthy of Alf Garnett", 31 January), I happened to be talking to Keynes at a pre-war party in Cambridge. I referred to a particularly vicious example of Nazi anti-semitism which had just taken place. I was shocked to hear Keynes say: "Anti-semitism is saying out loud what people ought to keep to themselves."

LEONARD MIALL

Taplow, Buckinghamshire