“Privatisation has failed us: we must admit it and do things differently” (Commentary, last week, page 29), claimed dividends of £2bn a year were paid out on the privatised railways. This was incorrect. The annual figure is about £200m. Last year, figures published by the Office of Road and Rail showed the total at £228m.
“How Europe’s wars of religion condemned 40,000 ‘witches’ to a terrible death” (News, last week, page 7) was illustrated with a coloured engraving purporting to show the hanging of the 10 “witches” of Pendle at Lancaster castle in 1612. It actually showed the equally grisly 1650 Newcastle upon Tyne executions of 18 people, published in Ralph Gardiner’s denunciation of the Newcastle establishment, England’s Grievance Discovered: In Relation to the Coal Trade, five years later. The illustration, reversed from the original, showed Newcastle’s bellman on one side, asking people to bring out their witches, and a witch-finder from Scotland on the other, receiving his blood money of £1 a head.
“Vegans get 100 new wines to drink to an ethical future” (News, last week) mentioned a new Tesco range of meals, wraps and salads and called it the Wicked Collection. We meant the Wicked Kitchen.
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