Is it possible that British retail’s “worst year on record” (Report, 9 January), with particularly disappointing figures for November and December, might have something to do with the fact that the banks, having showered the economy with £50bn of what has effectively been “helicopter money” over the last decade, finally stopped paying out on PPI claims from the end of August?
Alan B Cook
Birmingham
• Andrew Krokou’s memory plays him false (Letters, 9 January). It was not the Labour rightwinger Herbert Morrison who said of the leftwinger Aneurin Bevan: “Not while I’m alive he ain’t [his own worst enemy].” It was the Labour rightwinger Ernest Bevin of Morrison himself.
Dr Harry Harmer
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
• I remember “his own worst enemy” and “not while I’m alive he ain’t” being answers in an Araucaria crossword (No 24,848, 4 November 2009), along with the names of Ernest Bevin and Herbert Morrison. I’ve always believed the latter phrase was said by Bevin of Morrison.
Terry Carbro
Sleights, North Yorkshire
• At the supermarket checkout: “Would you like a bag for life?” asked the cashier (Letters, 9 January). My husband of 50 years put his arm around me. “No thanks, I’ve got one of those already,” said he.
Susan Chesters
Winchester
• Advanced age has its perks. A 90-year-old friend, when told the wardrobe she’d ordered had a six-month waiting list, replied to the salesperson: “Young man, that’s no good to me. I might be dead by then.” He sold her the display item from the store window.
Simon Tatton-Brown
Bath
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