The recent sad loss of Stacey Brewer serves to remind us of the equally sad losses in recent months of other Evening Press contributors, i.e the late John Potts and Peter Mullen, relocated to a London diocese. Both journalists contributed excellent weekly columns with hard-hitting commentary on current events, albeit with an open, right of centre bias at times.

My concern, however, is that loss of their articles to the Press has completely upset the political balance of the feature columns. Any political comment is left to the utterings of Julian Cole, who has spent many years attacking "Mrs Hacksaw"'(i.e Mrs Thatcher, the most popular Prime Minister in the last 100 years!) and Chris Titley who seems to take a very similar line.

I had high hopes that Brian Marlowe's column may yet restore the balance but am afraid that this has unfortunately developed into a rather bland, apolitical piece of journalism.

Your leader column of January 3 set out its aims for the new millennium of fair, accurate and balanced reporting. I would suggest that until you find a journalist on your staff who can write a column while looking through blue tinted glasses for a change, balanced it is not.

J Calpin,

Langholme Drive,

Boroughbridge Road,

York.

Editor's footnote: What do other readers think? Write and let us know.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.