Country diary is usually a balm for the soul, but the New Forest dispatch (27 September) made me sick. In celebrating the forest’s “beauty and traditions”, we learn that wild ponies are rounded up, with new foals branded and ponies having their tails cut. Why is this still happening? Human habits should never trump an animal’s quality of life.
Jason Rose
Musselburgh, East Lothian
• Siobhain McDonagh has helped restore my faith in Labour MPs with her plea for a programme of prefabricated homes (Report, 27 September). Prefabs came to the rescue of homeless people in the Attlee era, and can come to the rescue again today in the Starmer era.
Ivor Morgan
Lincoln
• Your cycling correspondents appear to assume that pedestrians ought to get out of their way when hearing a voice or a bell (Letters, 28 September). The Highway Code is clear about a hierarchy and stipulates when pedestrians have priority.
Teresa Quayle
Cheshire
• Marilyn Adams (Letters, 24 September) asks “What else can I do [to fight Reform]?” We can explain to our relations, friends, neighbours and colleagues why a Reform government would be a disaster. It shouldn’t be too hard.
Andrew Lugton
Harrow, London
• Your review of House of Guinness (25 September) fails to mention the curse of the modern drama: mumbled, inaudible dialogue. It cannot matter whether the characters’ pheromones “positively sizzle” if we can’t understand what they are saying.
Chris Ramshaw
Smarden, Kent
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