QUENTIN LETTS is the King Cobra of parliamentary commentators.

But it’s not so much toxic venom that he squirts on his victims as a compound of derision and ridicule that could scar a politician’s reputation for life.

His new book is as explosive and readable as his daily parliamentary sketches. There is outrage on every page.

As the title suggest, Letts laments slovenliness which, along with his particular bete noir – equality – has, he claims, dragged Britain down into the gutter.

Among his targets are chat-show host Jonathan “Dross” who, Letts says, “could do cerebral but that does not sell – there is more moolah in moronic”.

The 46-year-old yearns for a return not just to Received Pronunciation but to Queen’s English, and lambasts “glottal-stop oikishness”. He damns equality and the myth that no one is better than anyone else and that everyone deserves prizes.

And so it goes on remorselessly.

Health and safety fanatics, politically- correct purists and nannystate neurotics should be compelled to read this fine and highly readable book. It would be nice to think it would cause them to mend their ways.

Chris Moncrieff