Have I got this right? All taxpayers contribute to publicly funded arts, but those arts must only represent the views of the 43.6% of voters who elected this government (How Oliver Dowden became secretary of state for the culture wars, 11 June)? Another example of Boris Johnson’s “fairness” agenda, clearly.
Deirdre Burrell
Mortimer, Berkshire
• Fixing NHS waiting times could cost £40bn according to leaked estimates from No 10 (Report, 10 June). How much does it cost to neglect them? There is the cost of people on benefits, not earning and paying tax; the cost of additional carers; the cost of conditions getting worse and therefore more expensive to treat. In addition, there is the human cost of extra suffering. Neglecting waiting times is not a cost-free option.
Jon Marks
Tring, Hertfordshire
• A headline in Friday’s paper reads: “Giant blinking star discovered near the heart of the Milky Way” (Report, 11 June). I thought the Guardian’s style guide allows the use of swearwords?
Nigel Moss
Buxton, Derbyshire
• It is surely in our DNA to fall prey to the fallacy of genetic determinism (20 years after the human genome was first sequenced, dangerous gene myths abound, 9 June).
Dr Alex May
Manchester
• It is eight years since I reported snow still present on the Cheviot in June (Letters, 11 June 2013). It has survived again!
Gordon Dalziel
Kelso, Roxburghshire
