Thank you for the magnificent mission statement with its fascinating historical highlights (The long read, 18 November). The Guardian is a beacon of hope, if a rather lonely one, in our present state. Out of curiosity I went on to the Bank of England inflation calculator to see what the price of “Seven-pence” for that first issue on Saturday 5 May 1821 would be today. It came out at almost exactly £2.90, the price of today’s Saturday paper! You have somehow avoided any real increase in the price and I shall never grumble again as I shell out at the newsagent, as I do every day.
Simon Casimir Wilson
London
• Ian Jack risks diluting the fight against racism and bullying by trying to discover prejudice where none exists (I like Apu from the Simpsons. But I can see the harm in stereotypes, 18 November). In writing about his reaction to Apu in The Simpsons, he says: “I can’t think that the effect is racist, but one can never be sure.” If we have to examine every characterisation for authenticity before we can indulge a humorous portrayal we will murder comedy but we will not kill prejudice.
Jennifer Rees
Cardiff
• I learn from your feature on Christmas markets (Travel, 18 November) that the shape of “Stollen … is supposed to symbolise baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes”. Is this conceptually different from Greggs’ infamous sausage roll?
Bernard Cross
Hemel Hempstead
• I assume Alan Greenslade-Hibbert (Letters, 17 November) means southern coffee drinkers? Those of us who live in the north have always pronounced latte to rhyme with paté.
Helen Hackett
Durham
• Amid all the discussion about the correct pronunciation of latte, a simple question: why not call it what it is, and has been known as for most of the time since coffee first came to Britain – milky coffee?
Tony Fletcher
Neath
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
