In the cold winter of 1978/9, I was working in a large organisation as their first woman solicitor. The (male) boss in charge of the typing pool (all female) forbade the wearing of trousers (Suits you ma’am, 28 November). I asked my boss if he minded if I wore trousers and his answer was, “so long as you do your job you can wear what you want”. I wore my trouser suit the next day. The typing pool followed suit.
Sylvia Freedman
London
• Margaret Thatcher’s research contribution to science is so small as to be undetectable (Letters, 30 November). Her government’s policies had an utterly malign effect on science, the scientific community and science education. In view of the Brexit nonsense it would be timely to commemorate Caroline Herschel who with her brother William, later Sir William, came here from Germany and made massive contributions to astronomy.
Dr John Cookson
Bournemouth
• Martin Kettle views May’s “resilience” as “awesome” (Opinion, 29 November). General Melchett phrased it better in Blackadder Goes Forth: “If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.”
Derrick Cameron
Stoke-on-Trent
• “Alcohol is kind of the antidote to the stiff upper lip…” (G2, 28 November). As the porter in Macbeth reminds us, it can also be the antidote to stiffness elsewhere.
Michael Cunningham
Wolverhampton
• Zoe Williams asks in what known universe can Santa be male, since the two core skills required are remembering who to get presents for and wrapping them (G2, 29 November). Magic elves take care of those little tasks. He just likes to do the driving and take all the credit.
Keith Hayward
Hove, East Sussex
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