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Letters – September 2026
Submit a letter for consideration about this month’s edition by emailing the Editors: Miss Hardeep Matharu and Mr Peter Jukes on letters@bylinetimes.com
Stereotypes to be ‘Left Behind’
As a subscriber from Wigan frequently impressed by the analysis in Byline Times of subjects I know less about, I was particularly looking forward to your thoughts on my own local area in July’s ‘Northern Soul’ edition (19 June 2026). Frankly, I was disappointed.
Yes, in 1971 I did hear someone say ‘this new decimal currency might be a good idea but it’ll not catch on in Ashton’. So, of course, we can be nostalgic and maybe a bit insular around here. But your Makerfield coverage appeared designed to confirm a preconception of ‘left-behind’ Britain. You were saying exactly what the papers do say. In my opinion, it was poor journalism: stereotypical, patronising, and disrespectful.
You looked across the constituency without the necessary nuance: you mention Orwell but not Orrell, Wigan Central but not Wigan Council, misogyny but not Carol Vorderman’s game-changing letter.
