With the great Donald Winnicott welcome flavour of the month in the Guardian, his classic 1949 paper on the psyche-soma clearly shows why David Runciman’s proposal to give six-year-olds the vote is preposterous (Letters, 19 December). Runciman completely misunderstands the nature of child development, and that early unbalanced intellectual development generates chronic long-term negative health effects, as Winnicott clearly showed. I wish philosophers wouldn’t stray into realms they know nothing about.
Dr Richard House
Chartered psychologist, Stroud, Gloucestershire
• My village has just about hung on to its three churches, two pubs, a post office and library, but I hadn’t realised we were entitled to an Ikea (Wordsearch, G2, 19 December).
Ruth Eversley
Paulton, Somerset
• Peter Hutchinson (Letters, 19 December) points out that Moscow in Cumbria was the chosen site of the Blue Streak test site. Given the lack of success of that missile programme, it is appropriate to note that also to be found in Cumbria is Great Cockup.
Terence Hall
Pendlebury, Greater Manchester
• There is no actual town of Moscow in Cumbria. However, there is one in Ayrshire, near Kilmarnock. It was included in the itinerary of Mr Kosygin’s state visit to the UK in 1967.
Alasdair Gibson
Ledbury, Herefordshire
• The Moscow in East Ayrshire has its own River Volga (well it’s only a burn actually).
Hugh Clark
Glasgow
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