We should stop using the term “U-turn” for what this government regularly does (Government U-turns on school guidance for children of key workers, 9 January). U-turns are orderly and result in a reversal of direction. What we have witnessed are V-turns – the screeching of brakes and going off in another incorrect direction, similar to but not the same as before.
Ken Baldry
London
• You become sprightly (Letters, 10 January) at the same age as you become a carer for an old person. One half of a couple eventually develops a chronic condition, and the other half becomes “the carer”. Lucky for the NHS that the latter is usually sprightly.
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife
• Seventy-five years ago, l had a paper round in Leicester. This meant delivering around 40 newspapers. In my bag were all the popular papers (the Daily Mirror, Daily Sketch, etc), but just one Guardian (Letters, 8 January). That was delivered to Hall & Earls, a local hosiery factory. I was glad to post that in its letter box. It was a large and heavy paper compared with the others. Even in those days, it stood out from the rest.
Peter Spencer
Leicester
• Andrew Britsch may not like the term “jab” (Letters, 10 January), but neither does “a little scratch” describe the process, though every doctor and nurse who has put a needle in me has said this. I don’t know whether it’s their training or a universal reluctance to tell someone that they’re going to feel a little prick.
Lynne Scrimshaw
London
• The prospect of a vaccine has already had one side effect: my wife has stopped lying about her age.
Colwyn Lee
Swarkestone, Derbyshire
