The impropriety of Boris Johnson’s dog, Dilyn, being photographed in at taxpayers’ expense (Report, 10 February) could easily be resolved by appointing Dilyn as a cabinet member. There is a precedent as the Roman emperor Caligula – like Boris, popular with the crowds in his early reign – maintained that his horse, Incitatus, was wiser than his senators; Dilyn might be more capable than some of the cabinet.
Bill Sharrod
Hadnall, Shropshire
• Jane Smiley says she “tossed” Philip Roth’s novel American Pastoral when “the main character ... asked his daughter to kiss him in an erotic way” (Books that made me, 5 February). Actually, it’s the protagonist’s daughter who pleads, heartbreakingly, with her father, struggling to get the words out because of her serious dysfluency, to “kiss me the way you kiss mother”.
Prof David Brauner
Reading, Berkshire
• When I went for my Covid-19 vaccine, I took along my current international vaccination certificate and the people administering my jab were only too happy to fill it in (Letters, 10 February).
Alice Brown
Liverpool
• I am 68 years old, and have just had my first jab. I don’t think I can immediately do anything today that I couldn’t do yesterday, but if the minimum age to go to the pub were raised from 18 to 65 then it would help the hospitality industry, and give me a change of scenery in the evening. Win-win, as they say.
John Barnes
Marsden, West Yorkshire
• I am de-icing water and laying on food not just for birds (Letters, 11 February) but two hedgehogs who have been arriving regularly between 9.30pm and 10pm for the last week. They seem unfazed by the freezing temperatures and are refusing to follow their seasonal lockdown rules.
Anthea Falk
Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire
• Can we now expect a call for the return of the “Preseli marbles” (Dramatic discovery links Stonehenge to its original site – in Wales, 12 February)?
Andy Jenkinson
Ascot, Berkshire
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