Sir, – I did not even know the new foreign secretary’s name until he was appointed.

Does David Cameron intend to be his own foreign secretary? Philip Hammond’s performance on the BBC TV Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning was very disconcerting.

He had to refer to the German foreign ninister as “my German counterpart”. This put me in mind of John Redwood’s attempt to sing the Welsh national anthem.

In the midst of the international horror stories of the Middle East and now Ukraine, is David Cameron seriously going to send Philip Hammond to speak for Britain?

When Metternich was bundled out of Vienna in a laundry basket to escape the mob in 1848, or Bismarck was sacked by Kaiser Wilhelm in 1890, Europe was shaken.

The withdrawal of William Hague from politics is not perhaps quite on that scale. As a former Conservative party leader, however, he has standing.

To replace him with Philip Hammond must suggest the PM has ambitions to be his own foreign secretary in the manner Ted Heath acted really as his own chancellor. Ted had the unexpected death of the legendary Iain Macleod to handle.

Tony Barber was nominally Ted’s chancellor. Everyone knew Ted was really Chancellor too.

NIGEL F BODDY Fife Road, Darlington.