Why is Mary Berry referred to as “the 79-year-old TV judge” (Media, 15 December) when the age of not one of the other celebrities was mentioned in this article? Is it ageism, or sexism, or both?
Ann Lynch
Skipton, North Yorkshire
• Martin Griffiths, CEO of Stagecoach, claims that his and other private operators’ input have delivered Europe’s “best, safest and fastest growing railway” (Letters, 13 December). These claims are the opposite of the truth for anyone who has travelled on railways in Europe, which are clean, uncrowded, frequent, punctual and affordable. Trains in the UK are none of the above; one cannot help admiring the chutzpah of Mr Griffiths.
Peter Brandt
Oxford
• Zoe Williams (15 December) highlights a cruel aspect of government policy. Natalie Engel is surely being denied a basic human right that is not denied to foreign citizens in prison. If they have been able to challenge deportation in the European court of human rights, Engel should be able to do so even if her husband, as a South African, has no such right.
John Pelling
Coddenham, Suffolk
• So Chelsea, a stonkingly rich football club, is to pay its staff a living wage at last (Report, 12 December). Are we supposed to applaud?
Gwyn Jones
Windermere, Cumbria
• You devote a page to the apparent injustice of Rory McIlroy’s failure to win BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year 2014 (15 December). This is an award previously bestowed upon such sporting giants as Princess Anne and Zara Phillips…
Bob Merrison
Barking, Essex
