Why Matt Hancock is (almost) to be pitied | Brief letters

WhatsApp messages | Marx & Spenser | Listen to a subtitler | Northern lights | Suite Caroline

Much as I detest Tories on principle, I think Isabel Oakeshott’s behaviour has violated every notion of journalistic integrity, and in this instance Matt Hancock is almost to be pitied (Ministers rally behind Covid inquiry after Hancock WhatsApp revelations, 1 March). Then I remembered that Oakeshott is a Tory too, so my principle appears to hold good.
Philip Clayton
London

• The letter from Jane Harding (1 March), wondering where Mark Spencer, the minister for food, might do his shopping, reminded me of a debating society motion when I attended Leeds University in the 1950s. This read: “This house has got more from Marks & Spencer than it has from either Marx or Spenser.” As I recall, the motion was carried.
Tony Ingham
Goosnargh, Lancashire

• Adrian Chiles, who writes about young people using subtitles when watching TV (My kids often baffle me. But at least we agree on subtitles, 2 March), should listen to the wonderful Michael Rosen interviewing a professional subtitler, Karli Witkowska, on a recent episode of BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth – a programme that, together with More or Less, repays my licence fee. Easily found on BBC Sounds.
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife

• The Inuit people of northern Canada say: “If you whistle, they will dance for you” (Northern lights dazzle across Scotland, Ireland and south through England, 27 February).
Elaine Steane
Oxford

• This is the perfect opportunity for a classical composer to mark Charles’s coronation with a Suite Caroline (Pass notes: The coronation concert, 1 March).
Bev Maydon
Enfield, London

Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our Letters section.

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
For once, Matt Hancock speaks for us all | Brief letters
Brief letters: WhatsApp betrayal | Johnson ploughs on | Marks and Engel | Another use for turnips | What’s in a name

06, Mar, 2023 @6:24 PM

Article image
When Matt Hancock lives up to his name | Brief letters
Brief letters: Impatience | Sperm counts | Boris Johnson | Spring weather | Covid correspondence

Letters

01, Mar, 2021 @4:57 PM

Article image
Why I will never forgive Matt Hancock | Brief letters
Brief letters: Hancock’s trespasses | Let down by Keir Starmer | Perfect pee | Celebrating kingfishers

28, Nov, 2022 @5:38 PM

Article image
Guardian readers who are in it for life | Brief letters
Brief letters: Dedicated readers | Chasing Woof | Guy Fawkes’ honesty | A republican boost | Hung up on Handel

08, May, 2023 @4:34 PM

Article image
Tony Hancock inspired Dougal the dog | Brief letters
Brief letters: The Magic Roundabout | Country diary | Bad taste menus | Outlaws and in-laws | Hoping for Henry

11, Sep, 2022 @3:45 PM

Article image
Mystified by Jimmy Buffett’s greatest hit
Brief letters: Margaritaville | Railcard renewal | King Charles | Starmer’s prose and poetry

10, Sep, 2023 @5:33 PM

Article image
Prince Charles’s visit with royal cushion carrier | Brief letters
Brief letters: Royal travel habits | ‘Fuck-me shoes’ | Smallpox inoculation | The 30 best box sets

Brief letters

27, Jan, 2019 @6:16 PM

Article image
Has our ‘green’ king gone off the rails? | Brief letters
Brief letters: Charles’s flying visit | Europe edition | Sunak’s racing cert | Bargain buses | Worm-eaten apples

22, Sep, 2023 @4:53 PM

Article image
Is a yellow rain really gonna fall? | Brief letters
Brief letters: Water colour | On the beach | Dirty politics | Tory tales | King-size salary

23, Jul, 2023 @3:43 PM

Article image
Brought to tears by the birds’ beautiful warning | Letters
Brief letters: An avian alert | Serge Gainsbourg’s best song | Longer John Silver | Voter ID | Woke Windsor

19, Apr, 2023 @5:08 PM