MY New Year’s wish is that entertainers who are past their sell-by date should step aside and give others a chance. Some have used the same patter for the last 40 years on television.

If they must cling on to fame, then do it the hard way like Ken Dodd, and tour the country to satisfy his everlasting admirers.

One of the most nauseating occasions of the past decade was watching Gordon Brown grasping at straws to prolong his disastrous stay in No 10, when most of the country wanted to see the back of him for good.

Aided and abetted by proven devious and scheming characters such as Alistair Campbell, how on earth do we allow such unelected dubious people to get into a position to alter the course of history in such a way as to be detrimental to the people?

Sam Senior, Kirkgate, Knaresborough.