I find it quite difficult to stomach Gaby Hinsliff’s paean to Pret a Manger and its supposed empowerment of low-paid employees (Power to the baristas, 24 April). Bridgepoint Capital, the owner of Pret, also runs a company called Care UK which took over a healthcare contract in Doncaster and promptly cut the pay of the staff by about £400 per month. Instead of trying to win free coffee, people should keep away from Pret shops until Bridgepoint Capital restores the workers’ salaries.
Steve Elliot
London
• Are Pret’s low-paid staff allowed to accept tips? If so, perhaps anyone offered a free coffee could tip the barista instead.
Pam Lunn
Kenilworth, Warwickshire
• As a Newcastle United supporter, I wish I could forget my team as easily as the prime minister does his (Brain fade: ‘Aston Villa fan’ David Cameron confuses his team for West Ham, 25 April).
Ian Douglas
London
• Would those readers who are about to spend at least £2,329 on a Guardian holiday to India and Nepal (Advert, 27 April) consider sending the amount to a post-earthquake disaster fund instead (Grief and fear amid the ruin, 27 April)?
Hilary Brazier
London
• You report that “UK’s billionaires double their wealth since recession as average incomes stand still” (27 April). So wealth doesn’t trickle down, it floods up.
David Hughes
London
• In a discussion of road signs with a class of nine-year-olds, the warning “Dangerous plant crossing” prompted some amazing art work (Letters, 27 April).
Kathleen Houlton
Reading
• The exhortation on the London Underground to “use all available doors” puts me in a quantum mechanical quandary.
Dr Paul C Driscoll
The Francis Crick Institute
