LOOKING back over the past year you can see sweet nothing to celebrate. What stands out is the situation in Afghanistan, with the almost daily sacrifice of precious British lives, and the ongoing repercussions of the financial crisis in terms of jobs being lost, as also homes, businesses and, very probably, lives.

While these things tug at the heartstrings there is one other that, if less dramatic, is to me almost as traumatic, and that is the loss of the traditional British pub.

This is happening all over our land and it is happening for reasons that are clearly identifiable and which the Government could easily tackle if it were so minded. So why isn’t it doing so?

How can we feel at home in our own country if we no longer have this fundamental element of what it means to be British?

Tony Kelly, Crook, Co Durham.