Like many people living in Britain today, I don’t own a single item of clothing that costs over £200. Strange that all those you asked about Jeremy Corbyn’s suit and tie were wearing something that did (Are you a Corbyn or a Cameron?, 27 February). Had you asked people living on or below an average income, or people who choose to spend money on other things, I expect that you would have got some very different answers. Surely what a party leader stands for is more important than their suit.
Sue Easterbrook
Shipley, West Yorkshire
• Good to know that at least one Guardian writer is not afraid to parade her luxurious living habits. Catherine Shoard (Notebook, 24 February) reveals that she was compelled to go to Selfridges food hall in search of a few special foreign mushrooms – the price £29. A bagatelle for the likes of Shoard but a sum on which some impoverished, austerity-pressed people outside of London will spend on the basics for several days and meals.
Nicholas de Jongh
London
• At a job interview back in the 1970s I was taken to task for writing “ability to type” on my CV (Letters, 1 March). One of my interviewers said this was worrying as it showed that at some point in my career I hadn’t had a secretary.
Brian Edwards
Lustleigh, Devon
• Lovely photograph by Paul Kingston of dawn atop Helm Crag (Eyewitness, 29 February) but it isn’t of the summit pinnacle. The intrepid walker is, in fact, atop “The Lion and the Lamb”. A pinnacle, yes, but not the pinnacle of Helm Crag. That honour belongs to the redoubtable and vertiginous “Howitzer” at the other end of the summit ridge. See my book Contour Lines for an appreciation. Alfred Wainwright’s Central Fells illustrates the contrasting settings beautifully.
Mick Harney
Reading
• The UK needs thousands more doctors and nurses (NHS nurse shortages ‘to last another four years’, theguardian.com, 29 February). Perhaps some of the well-qualified refugees arriving on the beaches of Lesbos, so resolutely prevented from reaching the UK, could plug the gap?
MA Mezey
London
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