Your correspondent David Nowell (Letters, 11 February) may like to know that in Norway all tax returns are publicly available. It’s unlikely to be a coincidence that Norway also has excellent educational standards, a low level of crime and the lowest rate of unemployment in Europe – just some of the benefits of a more equal society.
Elizabeth Wardle
New Barnet, Hertfordshire
• Observing the politicians’ evasions and avoidances concerning questions over tax and Swiss banks, why do I keep thinking of Captain Renault’s shock at finding gambling was going on in Casablanca?
Pete Bibby
Sheffield
• Lord Tyler (Letters, 12 February) could contribute to the reduction of the size of the House of Lords by making use of the procedure for retiring from it and perhaps persuading some of the 40 Lib Dem peers who have been appointed since the last election to follow his noble example.
Jeremy Beecham
Labour, House of Lords
• I received my first behind-the-ear hearing aids five years ago just before embarking on a cruise, and I was surprised to find that while I had difficulty conversing with friends across the table at dinner, I was picking up fascinating snippets of conversation from the table directly behind me (How a new hearing aid can be life-changing, Letters, 12 February). The possibilities of this seemed endless, and I wondered if I might offer my services to one of the security agencies.
Hilda Hayden
Malvern, Worcestershire
• It is upsetting to be faced with a big picture of Boris Johnson when one is eating breakfast (Eyewitness, 12 February). Or at any other time, actually. Or even a small picture.
Peter Brooker
West Wickham, Kent
• Yeovil, Brian Smith! Don’t Diss geographical puns (Letters, 12 February).
Derrick Cameron
Stoke-on-Trent
