It is sad indeed to hear of the death of Tom Moore (Report, 2 February). His fundraising on behalf of the NHS has been incredible. Let us not forget, however, that the NHS is not a charity. It should not need to rely on fundraising by the public, and the fact that it does is entirely due to consistent underfunding by successive Tory governments.
Tim Barker
Eastington, Gloucestershire
• Please stop referring to a “South African variant” of Covid-19 (Report, 1 February), or indeed, attributing national identities to any variants of the virus. Putting organisms into national categories – whether they are viruses or human beings – allows people to dismiss them as “other”, with the sort of consequences we have seen all too much of recently.
Jim Grozier
Brighton, East Sussex
• It is not “Suffolk’s Stour valley” (10 of the most tranquil places in the UK, 31 January). As a county boundary, the Stour belongs equally to Essex and Suffolk – and Manningtree and Dedham, both mentioned in the piece, are in Essex.
Trevor Aldous
Shaftesbury, Dorset
• Classical rock renditions are even older than 1986 (Letters, 1 February). Fritz Spiegl made Eine Kleine Beatlemusic with the Barock and Roll Ensemble back in 1965. Beatles tunes on one side and My Old Man’s a Dutchman on the other.
Ed Marshall
Scrooby, Nottinghamshire
• A cute picture of a groundhog and a rude placename in the caption (Best photographs of the day, 3 February); thanks for a good start to my day!
Marion Neville
Brighton
