What a surprising paper the Guardian sometimes is. Reading Friday’s edition over Sunday lunch just now (it’s been a busy week), I find myself, an ardent Corbyn supporter, agreeing with Tories Michael Gove (Gove is a true reformer. We should be cheering him on) and Andrew Mitchell (We’ve outsourced foreign policy to Saudi), as well of course as the timely article on Black History Month by David Olusoga, and so much else. Katharine Viner and team, sometimes I love you.
Katherine El-Salahi
Oxford
• One option that wasn’t covered in an otherwise excellent article on cutting funeral costs (Money, 10 October) is direct cremation, something I have opted for, and used for my husband last year. There are no rites involved, no scattered congregation struggling to remember the words to Jerusalem, and it comes in under £2,000. The deceased is taken from the place of death to the crematorium direct. I was lucky enough to say goodbye to Mick, holding his hand as he died; I had no intention of swapping that memory for a cold, ugly ceremony.
Geraldine Blake
Worthing, West Sussex
• Turned from a brilliant interview with Mhairi Black (‘I was born. I went to school. I left. I fried a fish. And now I’m an MP’, 10 October) to the EU special on page 7, where it seems to be situation normal: 26 political faces representing in or out, and all but the three token women are white, middle class (yes, even you, Jeremy and Len) and middle aged. Good job. And you wonder why Class War are back?
Simeon Gilchrist
London
• Given the outcome of the Labour leadership election, shouldn’t we be putting money on David Davis for 2018 (Ambitious big beasts make wary first moves, 8 October)?
Harold Mozley
York
