It's goodbye from Julie Burchill as she leaves Indy

Julie Burchill has written her last column for the Independent, she reveals to readers today.

Recruited by previous Independent editor Simon Kelner, her full page column has more recently shrunk to less than half a page.

Burchill, who was often the target of critics on the Independent's letters' page, writes: "Give the people what they want, goes the old line, and that day is here at last for me and the vast majority of Independent readers as I write my final column.

"I leave you with a light heart, well aware that it's time for me to move over. So I will now concentrate mainly on learning Hebrew and writing my memoir of philo-Semitism UNCHOSEN, with supplementary activity based around lunching, lazing and loafing. And the occasional foray into journalism, of course – I'd miss my trolls too much if I retired.

"L'hitraot! as we say in Israel – be seeing you!"