You quote Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute as saying “the decision to send trainers is shaped by the imperative to avoid escalation” (The UK move in Ukraine is largely symbolic but raises a question – what happens next?, 25 February). So an escalation of the conflict is an attempt to avoid escalation?
Will Podmore
London
• Last week we were watching Wolf Hall. “Cor,” I said to my husband, “you would think Mark Rylance would get tired of going round with a face like a wet weekend. If the wind changes it will get stuck like that.” Then you publish a picture of him in Farinelli and the King (Review, 24 February), and I see that it has!
Margaret Harvey
Bridport, Dorset
• Once the Guardian has abolished the discriminatory “women and children” cliche (Letters, 25 February), could it please act against “brutal murder” (Lured by Isis: young girls who revel in brutality are offered cause, 21 February). There’s no such thing as a nice, kind murder and calling a murder “brutal” is simply stating the obvious.
Michael Rank
London
• The news that the 2022 Fifa World Cup is to be played in December (Report, 25 February) is great news for England’s top footballers. Now they will get the mid-season break they crave and be able to spend Christmas with their families.
Gerard Gordon
West Kirby, Wirral
• You inform us that a 31-year-old man caught hepatitis C from “a rougher-than-normal” sexual encounter (Hunting the silent killer, 25 February). I’m sure I and other readers would be grateful to know how “rough” is “normal”.
Bob Frost
Deal, Kent
• The most influential city in Britain? You can’t pull strings without Nottingham (Letters, 25 February).
Colin Shone
Penmynydd, Anglesey
