Sir – I agree broadly with the negative response to the views of local MP, Julian Smith, regarding press freedom and national security, as expressed in the letters published in the last fortnight.

Nevertheless it should be recognised that Julian has shown a marked improvement over the last three years.

I was unimpressed by his performance during a visit to Settle during the last election. Alone among the candidates Julian had a “crib”, which he failed to hide under his desk but which he feverishly consulted to ascertain the party line.

I thought him a hopeless lightweight.

This was confirmed when he replied to letters asking him to give his personal position on an issue with forwarded statements from government sources rather than committing himself.

However, in one respect he is proactive. Since becoming an MP he has become a political polymath expressing his views both in and outside the House on a wide variety of disparate subjects – same-sex marriage, the Tour de France, youth unemployment, National Health Service economics and privatisation and, most recently, the “Guardian”, press responsibility and national security.

However, while he demonstrates breadth, he needs to match it with depth. More attention to homework would possibly strengthen his arguments and remove the element of superficiality and, dare we hope, introduce an element of originality.

He is very active on the floor of the House and very generous in congratulating the Front Bench and the Prime Minister on their achievements. I assume that this loyalty, verging as it does on the obsequious, does not go unrecognised. I would like to think there is a limit to the career success to be gained by uncritically parroting the party line. However, given the composition of the present government, I am not confident that this is true.

Nevertheless Julian has made a promising start. Well done, young Julian!

Ted Saunders, Giggleswick