Asking whether young people are viewing Nigel Farage’s TikTok videos for the silliness of trivial content or their political message misses the point about the proven links between entertainment value and propaganda (Nigel Farage is a hit on TikTok – but are young voters listening or laughing?, 11 May). As the pollsters Ruth and Henry Durant noted in 1940 about Lord Haw-Haw’s broadcasts to the UK, “People tuned in ‘to have a good laugh’, but then, having acquired the habit, some began to think ‘there may be something in what he says’.”
Will Studdert
Berlin, Germany
• As I stood in front of a Rothko at Tate Modern 22 years ago, our four-year-old ran up to it and I asked her what she thought. “Too big!” she replied instantly, and ran off. She’ll be starting her masters degree in fine art at Oxford University this October (The worst thing about the damaged Rothko is that it fuels the ban-kids-from-galleries debate, 11 May).
Robert Pedersen
Totnes, Devon
• I once remarked to a pupil’s father that I’d been impressed at how his son had handled a couple of disappointments. “Just as well,” he replied. “We’re Everton supporters” (Letters, 13 May).
Marilyn Rowley
Manchester
• Oh dear. I am a citizen of nowhere living in “an island of strangers” (Report, 13 May). This is getting difficult.
Murray Marshall
Salisbury
• I read Joseph Harker’s article opposing low-traffic neighbourhoods (14 May) and wish him well at his next newspaper.
David Bricknell
Plymouth
