A city wired up to warn asthmatics when the air pollution is bad is not a smart city (It’s time to put IT at the centre of cities, 3 August). A smart city would use IT to manage traffic so air stays fit to breathe.
Judith Hanna
London
• Is it not heartwarming that when (barring unforeseen setbacks) Jeremy Corbyn begins his first period in government (Report, 3 August), he will have the oldest starting age ever for a prime minister?
Jeremy Blakiston
Seaford, East Sussex
• A few years back, in Tennessee, I tried to avoid the multiple questions that seem to go with any food order in America by ordering a simple ham sandwich (Letters, 1 August). “Wider we?” said the attendant. After three or four attempts at clarification, the man in the growing queue behind me elucidated: “She’s asking if you want white bread or wheat bread.”
Roy Boffy
Walsall, West Midlands
• The story about the average shopper in Poundland spending £4.72 (Letters, 3 August) reminds me of the nonsense of the average. A man with one foot in ice, and the other in boiling water is, on average, very comfortable.
Peter Jones
Oldham
