People should not be shocked that none of the retailers in the FTSE 100 pay the living wage (Scrooge to pay visit to Primark shareholders, 1 December). Their profitability and expansion is based on low wages. Five Leaves Bookshop is a small radical bookshop in Nottingham. If we can pay the living wage, it can only be greed that stops these big companies doing so. We take the view that nobody involved in bookselling should have to get by on less per hour than the cost of a basic paperback novel. It would be good if others in our industry felt the same.
Ross Bradshaw
Five Leaves Bookshop, Nottingham
• I’ve been boycotting Amazon for more than two years (Thousands pledge to boycott Amazon, 2 December). One of my greatest pleasures is accessing someone’s wishlist and clicking “bought elsewhere”.
Alison Hallum
Tonbridge, Kent
• The deserved appreciation of Jim Broadbent (National treasure? Oh no. Well, yes, in a way. C-list, G2, 27 November) omitted his luminous partnership as part of the National Theatre of Brent, with Patrick Barlow. A grieving Virgin Mary played by a large crumpled man in a crumpled suit with a tea towel on his head was a breathtaking moment of theatrical clarity, honesty, courage and insight, which ranked with the finest acting performances.
Mike Jakeways
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Early day motion EDM 585 draws attention to the closure of Berkshire local newspapers in particular and the closure of 150 of such other local newspapers in recent years (Report, 1 December). I hope that as many MPs as possible will support the EDM because it is becoming more and more difficult for citizens to have their letters published, and this must be a matter for regret in any democracy.
Jim Wright
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Re your editorial on NHS spending (2 December): the NHS budget for 2014 was £127bn, while the total wealth of the UK’s 1,000 richest people is £519bn. Which of these can’t we afford?
Andrew Sayer
Lancaster
