Antonio Carluccio claims there is no such dish as spaghetti bolognese in Italy (Shortcuts, G2, 12 October). Yet I have eaten it in Bologna. It was disappointing – made, as Carluccio says “without any herbs”. I have also eaten paella with chorizo, chicken and prawns in Spain (Jamie Oliver’s paella brings fractured Spain together … against him, 5 October).
Caroline Ewans
London
• Simon Jenkins (Opinion, 13 October)cites three white elephants the government is backing. He might have added a fourth: the garden bridge in London for which there is no need or demand.
Joan Bakewell
Labour, House of Lords
• Tim Lott (Opinion, 7 October) is mistaken in supposing that small talk at dinner parties is a matter of politeness. The point, of course, is not to bore. “Ukip voters and Stockport welders” are by no means alone in thinking that too many “broadsheet-reading, Newsnight-viewing would-be sophisticates” are indeed – as he puts it – “all up themselves”.
David Hull
Devizes, Wiltshire
• Finally! A realistic picture of the deer in Richmond Park, complete with the paparazzi they have to contend with every autumn (Standoff with stag, 13 October). Are they really all “amateurs”? Commercial photography is forbidden in the royal parks without a special licence.
Juliet Clark
Twickenham, Middlesex
• In memory of Harold Godwinson, late of Wessex, known throughout the land as Harold II. He died at Hastings defending his country against a foreign invader 950 years ago on 14 October 1066. RIP.
Steve Moore
Leumeah, New South Wales, Australia
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