Sift out or bake in the lesser of two weevils | Brief letters

Tax and reward | Finding bliss in solitude | Divine Crace | Catching housemartins | Cooking weevils

Here’s my question (Public to get question at daily UK coronavirus press conference, 27 April): given that one core aim of our exit strategy is to replenish government revenues and that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour, why not reward virtue and put businesses with a record of paying a fair amount of tax, in full, and on time at the front of the queue, relegate those with a history of tax avoidance to the back, and leave out those who have previously dabbled in tax avoidance?
Stephen Stradling
Altrincham, Greater Manchester

• When you are deaf you can be lonely in a crowd (The extreme loneliness of lockdown, 28 April). Wordsworth famously wrote of “the bliss of solitude”. I’ve found that the slowing down of days and remembering past times as a child, noticing nature in the garden and online chats can bring comfort. Each day can bring an uplifting moment – we only need to recognise it.
Jean Jackson
Seer Green, Buckinghamshire

• As an atheist I do not have divine grace to support me in these troubled times. But I do have divine Crace, whose sketches raise my spirits and help me to keep a grip on reality.
Robbie King
Alsager, Cheshire

• I keep a child’s toy fishing net in my house to catch birds that fly in, usually housemartin fledglings (Letters, 23 April). This enables me to catch them easily without all the frenzied, frightened crashing into the windows.
Penny Snook
Stubton, Lincolnshire

• Zoe Williams observes that weevils can be sifted out of flour (Is old yeast OK? The 17 rules of expiry dates, 23 April). My mother-in-law bought flour out of the sack at a corner shop during the war. The weevils, she said, died when cooked.
Dr Helen Jones
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

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