How long is it going to take us to realise that for the EU27 no deal was always going to be better than a bad deal? (Barnier and Davis clash amid Brexit deadlock, 26 September).
Danny Dorling
Oxford
• Re Would you rather go naked than wear … wool? (G2, 25 September), sheep lose their old fleece naturally as the weather warms, and can feel very uncomfortable on hot days while it is still clinging to them. Shearing gets rid of it fast, and they often seem happier afterwards. Ill-treating and injuring animals is a separate subject.
Kay Newman
Otley, West Yorkshire
• Good to see that Marina Hyde has her finger on the Labour pulse (G2, 28 September). Is there a parallel universe where “Labour leave MP Austin Mitchell” is still the MP for Great Grimsby? That might surprise Melanie Onn.
Liz Meerabeau
New Malden, Surrey
• I have now read AC Grayling’s letter (28 September) several times and still cannot make sense of the second sentence. The clause beginning “that a lazy reading” does not have a verb; what is the lazy reading doing? If you are going to be pedantic, do not offend your fellow pedants; and certainly do not compound the offence with “of we the people”.
Rodney Smith
Strathaven, South Lanarkshire
• The splitting of infinitives is not merely a grammatical issue – there is the question of meaning. “To simply put this” is not only simpler than “to put it simply”– it has a different meaning (Letters, 29 September).
John Ball
Barnet, Hertfordshire
• Peter Hain’s story about the triangular table for Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams (Opinion, 29 September) demonstrates the old adage that a disproportionate amount of power in any meeting lies with whoever organises the furniture – a principle going back to King Arthur and his knights. However, you have to get there early. Leaders who come late to demonstrate their own importance are missing a trick.
Geoff Reid
Bradford, West Yorkshire
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