THE letter from Diane Wood of Bradford, claiming that Barking and Dagenham are the prettiest towns in Essex, is in stark contrast to many other opinions expressed in Postbag, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes, and she is entitl

THE letter from Diane Wood of Bradford, claiming that Barking and Dagenham are the prettiest towns in Essex, is in stark contrast to many other opinions expressed in Postbag, but 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' as the saying goes, and she is entitled to her opinion.

This brings us to the point raised in Anthony Richard's letter about telling readers all sides of the story. There can be little doubt that the Council's paper The News would have printed Diane Wood's letter, whilst ignoring the many letters to the contrary.

Another point raised by Mr Richards concerns the findings of a report claiming to offer statistical proof that migrants get no priority in social housing. The organisation responsible for the report is the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

As the EHRC is a QUANGO (Quasi Autonomous Non Governmental Organisation), where Quasi means 'seemingly' or 'not really', it becomes apparent that it cannot be viewed as impartial.

Once again it is proper, as in any reasoned debate, to allow the opposite view to be expressed, and this may be founding a report from the independent think tank Civitas, which issued the following statement:-

"According to a leading statistical analyst, Professor Mervyn Stone of University College London, the figures that EHRC has disseminated as if they were evidence for the claim are of zero inferential value."

There must be many folk in Barking and Dagenham who express the views of this eminent professor; through probably not in so many words.

TREVOR WADE

Woodbridge Road-Barking