23 JANUARY 1993, Page 30

P is for . . .

Sir: When anyone has the temerity to criti- cise our newspapers, some pompous editor soars into bogus orations on 'the liberty of man'. Yet the salacious vulgarity and spite- ful nastiness of the press are deplorable. In order to help newspaper sales, editors also add a touch of the puritanical, becoming simultaneously prudish and prurient. One wonders how people of such mentality and character ever reach positions of responsi- bility in a newspaper.

James Balneaves

5 Gratton Street, Cheltenham, Glos