SIR – My New Year’s wish is that entertainers who are past their “sell by date” step aside and give others a chance.

Some have used the same patter for the last 40 years on TV.

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

On a similar theme, one of the most nauseating spectacles of the last decade was Gordon Brown grasping at straws to 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 like 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 totally detrimental to the citizens?

Adrian Senior, Latham Lane, Gomersal