It is not easy to get the drift of Frances Said's missive regarding Norman Hamilton's column carrying criticism of the current government.

She admits that "all the points sound true" yet she slams the columnist for raising them rather than singing the government's praises.

I cannot see Ms Said's logic as she continued to berate Mr Hamilton: "I would have thought that Mr Hamilton can and should ride above such petty moans." Are the points he raised true or petty moans?

Ms Said continues: "He is a man of high integrity and ability and should not stoop so low just to fill a page in this paper on behalf of the party he supports". Can Ms Said decide whether Mr Hamilton is a man of high integrity or a man who stoops so low?

But logic, or the lack of it, apart, Ms Said should be aware, after 38 years in the UK, that newspapers exist in a democracy precisely to criticise the government and point out its flaws. In the absence of such a political balance our society would be heading towards Orwell's Animal Farm where all the inhabitants were equal but some were more equal than others. Some of us would insist we're already there.