Sir, – Surely William Hague deserves better than to be hounded by unscrupulous elements in the media on such ludicrously baseless grounds. His role in forming the coalition arguably preserved this country from prolonged economic instability; is he to be rewarded with this farce?

Thankfully his constituents – those who actually know the man – have largely dismissed such libel with contempt, honouring the characteristic forthrightness of one marked by substance not spin.

How true that “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure” (Titus 1 v 15).

RUSSELL WALKER Ellerbeck Court, Stokesley