I AM writing to comment on the article you carried on the front and other pages of your March 26 issue.
I never thought I would see such a blatant example of two-facedness. If gold medals were awarded for hypocrisy, Andrew Slaughter would get another one.
And you, the editor, would be on the podium with him getting the silver. On page 9 you claim your 'team of experienced journalists' are 'editorially independent'.
However, you have committed the most basic of editorial howlers. Either you are unaware of - or much more probably - you have chosen to ignore the background, credentials and past performance of the person you have so readily hopped into bed with.
Surely, you recognise Mr Slaughter used HFM Magazine (the predecessor to h&f news) in exactly the same way he is now so shamelessly criticising the council.
Furthermore, he had his own 'spin' column in each issue, which he exploited fully. It was the Labour administration that took the decision to withdraw display advertising from the local press.
How can he now be so naive to think we residents are suffering from collective amnesia?
This seems to be the tactic of a desperate man. At least the present administration has achieved huge savings on the profligate regime they inherited. And why have you failed to verify - or chosen to ignore - the infinitely higher cost to the taxpayers of Mr Slaughter's magazine?
Its annual cost (excluding staff costs) was more than twice your quoted figure of £174,292 for the current publication, and yet you are seeking to inflame residents and recruit their support with a 'cost' argument, where none exists.
Your campaign is shameful and shows a remarkable lack of integrity. The best thing for you to do is to publish this letter in full and apologise to your readers for misleading them.
Name and address supplied
Editor's Note: We have not misled our readers. The Chronicle is not supporting Mr Slaughter in any way and remains entirely independent of all political parties and individuals.
