SIR: The BEN (May 8) ran an article about Ruth Kelly entitled: Bolton MP tipped for office. I noticed that the article was not attributed to any journalist, and I should like to inquire about the origin of the article.

Was the article composed by a BEN journalist or was the article obtained by the BEN from another source? I should hate to think that the story originated from the offices of the Labour Party. After all, it is not unknown for spin doctors to feed information to newspapers which will portray their MPs in a positive light.

A Makara

Broadwalk, Westhoughton

Editor's note: The article was written by a journalist from a national news agency. The story, like the BEN's political stance, is impartial.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.