COULD I just express my appreciation and admiration of David Pratt’s highly-informative pieces in The Herald over the past few years? Whether he is writing about fraught and dangerous situations in far-away places (Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey to name but a few) or on specific topics such as the construction of walls between countries and communities, his trenchant powers of analysis and unfailing ability to get to the heart of a topic and expose the truth make him one of the most gifted reporters I have had the privilege to read anywhere.

If only the politicians would wake up and listen to what he says, they might take the necessary action to protect us from what they wrongly regard as purely national problems elsewhere in the world, which may very well end up having serious repercussions in our own.

I would also commend Iain Macwhirter’s well-informed articles on the domestic front. Again, this journalist has the capacity to subject politicians of all hues to detailed scrutiny of their motives and actions, and to call them to account for their failings where Scotland and its people are concerned.

On the business front, Ian McConnell’s excoriating criticism of the Brexit merry-go-round is something I wish the Conservative Government would include in their bedtime reading.

We need more journalists of this calibre providing factual analysis and essential scrutiny of the activities of our elected representatives. Congratulations to The Herald for having the foresight to engage their services.

Helen McAvoy,

Belleisle Drive,

Ayr.