So now we have it. Modernisation equals longer hours and reduced working conditions: “John Lewis is planning to shut staff canteens and introduce longer shifts for hundreds of delivery drivers to cut costs and modernise its business” (Report, 10 March).
Peter Nicklin
Newcastle upon Tyne
• Not only did George Martin (Editorial, 10 March) launch the careers of four Liverpudlian lads but also five or so years of fun and minor fame for four Abingdon schoolmasters. His records of the Master Singers’ The Highway Code and The Weather Forecast have been heard all over, from Dutch and British TV to an Icelandic jukebox. Many thanks Sir George.
Helen Keating
Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway
• If the cost of a customer drinking a whole pint of beer is not double that of one drinking a half pint (Letters, 8 March), why does my second pint cost as much as the first?
Keith Penn
Ely, Cambridgeshire
• The Tory squabbles and the bogus arguments around sovereignty (Report, 9 March) are surreal when it’s recognised that the goal of both sides is to secure the nation’s future role in the global economy as British Isles, North Cayman branch.
Dave Hunter
Bristol
• The best defence of the exclamation mark (Should children be told to not use exclamation marks?, 8 March) ever written is surely Chekhov’s short story of that title, where its function is revealed as expressing “delight, indignation, joy and rage”. Nicky Morgan may find a kindred spirit in Collegiate secretary Yefim Perekladin, though I hope she escapes his fate!!!
Donald Mackinnon
Newport, Gwent
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
