SIR,

I see in this week's Beacon that your bashful correspondent 'Name and Address Supplied' has been busy sending anonymous letters again.

In the past few weeks at least five or six such letters have been published in your columns and, in my view, not one of them merits anonymity.

Who are these lily-livered letter writers who feel it's perfectly alright to criticise and snipe at others without revealing their own names or identities?

Who are these pusillanimous pen pushers who have not got the courage to stand by their opinions or the willingness and honesty to be counted?

What do your cowering correspondents really fear?

Do they think that they will lose friends or be beaten up in their homes or on the streets of Monmouth because of their views?

Isn't it these sort of fearful and invisible people, who are not willing to stand up for their rights, that allowed Hitler to gain power and control in Germany?

I know it sounds almost ridiculous, but these anonymous writers actually undermine our democracy.

If one person thinks putting their name to the mildest of letters is dangerous, and the Monmouthshire Beacon also thinks their identity should be protected, this simply feeds paranoia and fear within the community.

Your nameless correspondents, and perhaps even the Beacon too, should think twice before being party to such nonsense.

Democracy is about an open and free society, and there should be no need for secrecy or the fear of putting your name to an opinion.

If writers of missives to newspapers insist on anonymity, then they can have it.

All you need do is throw their letters straight into the recycled paper bin, where they belong.

Only very rarely do letters to newspapers warrant anonymity and the Beacon should only grant such a condition when national security is at stake or when a real threat of violence is likely to result from publication.

One hardly ever sees anonymous letters in national newspapers, but the Beacon appears to be condoning and encouraging a new school of secret snipers.

And if any of your unnamed cowardly contributors feel cross with me for writing such rude things about them, may I remind him/ her that it's only because I've given my name that they can feel cross with me.

Who on earth would they feel cross with if I also insisted on hiding behind a pathetic wall of secrecy like they do?

Jonathan Cockburn

(Gloucester)