I CAN assure M J Warner (SA, May 6) that I do have a very good sense of humour but not when the lives of Service personnel are concerned.

We are all well aware that he has no time for Mrs Thatcher as he makes this clear in so many of his letters. Being a free country he has every right to state his opinion and long may that continue. To try to make political gain over the war in the Falkland Islands is however reprehensible. Regardless of what went before the unprovoked invasion by Argentina, those British service personnel who lost their lives did so while fighting a just and honourable cause.

It was a different matter however, concerning the men killed in the Nimrod crash. In spite of Mr Warner saying that they died as a result of an unfortunate accident of war, an official inquiry proved without doubt that the crash was a result of negligence and inefficiency by a Labour controlled Ministry of Defence. Mr Warner decried both Terry Reynolds and myself when we first wrote about this.

The editor has been kind enough to publish several letters asking Mr Warner to withdraw his statement or give a reason for not doing so. I had hoped that he would have been man enough to do so not only for our sakes but moreso for the families of those who lost their lives in the crash.

Whatever happens this is my last letter on the subject and if I get no response from Mr Warner than I would advise readers to treat any further correspondence from this gentleman with complete and utter scepticism.

R W SELWAY Burden Close Stratton St Margaret Swindon