There are three letters in ‘The Sun' today in response to Rod Liddle's column in the paper on January 26.
Rod Liddle should thank heaven that he does not have the debilitating myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) – classified as a neurological illness by the World Health Organisation since 1969.
It has left tens of thousands of people existing for decades house or bed bound, before a premature death. He should give thanks he does not have the excruciating fibromyalgia – classified as a soft issue order by the World Health Organisation since the 1990s.
For the last quarter of a century I have had a severe form of both the conditions he ridicules and, believe me, I would be delighted to return to my teaching career if there were any effective treatment available. Unfortiunately, there's none, just psychobabble.
H PATTEN
Tintinhull, Somerset
I was totally outraged to read Rod Liddle's abhorrent utterings.
The only thing we can hope is that there will be such a backlash against him from so many quarters that it will actually focus more attention on all the chronic illnesses he is poo-poohing.
It would be some comfort for so many people if that kind of good came out of this column.
JUDI MARTIN
Maryculter, Aberdeenshire
Rod Liddle has made yet another incompetent and inaccurate attack on people with M.E.
M.E. is not ‘newly invented'. It was first described by he Lancet in 1956 and was later classified by the World Health Organisation as a neurological disorder. M.E. is recognised by the Department of Health to be a serious and debilitating condition.
The Medical Research Council recently provided £1.5million to fund biomedical research into the causes, diagnosis and management of this devastating illness.
DR CHARLES SHEPHERD
Hon Medical Adviser, ME Association
Fantastic replies folks – crystal clear and right to the point.
Well done, everyone! Thank you for writing on our behalf.
Brilliant, thank you all. I’m pleasantly surprised the Sun published any letters, let alone three.
So was I!
Thanks to everyone who wrote a letter
Following email received from the Sun today
Dear
Further to our correspondence earlier, I wanted to let you know that The Sun has
today published two letters from readers who objected to Rod Liddle’s column, and
one from Dr Charles Shepherd of the ME Association.
We hope you will agree that this helps to redress the balance.
Once again, I apologise for the distress caused by his column and thank you for letting
us know about it. We do care about our readers’ opinions and, as I said earlier, every email
is carefully read and given due consideration.
So please feel free to tell us your likes and dislikes about The Sun, or to write to us about
any subject.
Best wishes
Cracking letter from Charles Shepherd, thank you – and to the other authors too. I tend to just throw up my hands in despair and give up when I read stuff like Rod Liddle’s latest.
thank you so much MEA, and all others who wrote in too.
Heartfelt thanks for these three excellent letters from someone (carer of YP severely affected 12 yrs) who was in despair at this monstrous article.
I too am pleasantly surprised that the Sun has printed three letters to redress the balance to an appalling article – it puts the Daily Telegraph fiasco last August concerning Max Pemberton’s article to shame when they refused to print any letters to a grossly misleading piece.
Well done all three of you, and hats off to The Sun for publishing them.
I sent a complaint to the Sun, and a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission, and received the standard mass-mailed reply from the Sun, which was sent to Annette. I feel that this was a fob-off.
Rod Liddle broke two of the clauses in the Editors’ Guidelines for journalism, and should have been disciplined and sacked. That’s not going to happen, though, and no mention of this was made in the Sun’s reply to me. Indeed, he will be allowed to continue spewing his diatribes because he courts controversy, and controversy gets attention and sells newspapers. On the same page as this article appeared, he also made a sick joke about people with leprosy.
It doesn’t seem to matter how many people with the wretched illnesses ME and FM complain, every time we are attacked. People like Rod Liddle just keep getting away with attacking us, nothing is done about it – except for a few noises of acknowledgement, if we’re lucky – and we’re still written off as lazy or psychosomatic, because there’s still nothing that medical researchers can look at down a mircroscope, and recognize as a physiological cause.
All retaliations much appreciated. I once had a slight sneaking regard for the Liddle bite (never read anything he has written until this though. Only heard/seen him speak.) but not now he has bitten me and my mates.