Further to Eleanor Jardine’s letter (7 December) on those with public-facing jobs, come September and January every year, my husband and I without fail suffered illnesses ranging from colds, chest infections or flu throughout our combined 55-plus years in the teaching profession. Since moving permanently to rural France 12 years ago, the only time either of us have succumbed to any of the above ailments was after taking a flight to the UK for a family occasion.
Dominica Jewell
Bazoches-au-Houlme, France
• I’m not one of those who think Bob Dylan sold out when he went electric at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1966, but the news that he has sold the rights to his music to Universal is no surprise (Report, 7 December). The early Dylan, influenced by the Trotskyist Dave Van Ronk, would have written a song about it, but as he noted, the times they are a changin’.
Keith Flett
Tottenham, London
• The great man had it right the first time in It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – “money doesn’t talk, it swears”.
Chris Mortimer
Hove, East Sussex
• Re cheating the north (The myth of a reactionary ‘red wall’ obscures the causes of the north-south divide, 8 December), there no doubt will be lots of other examples, but here in Kendal it has been five years since a bridge was destroyed by flooding. No replacement until next year – for a footbridge !
Marion Kuit
Kendal, Cumbria
• Millwall supporters must really mean their infamous motto when chanting: “No one likes us, we don’t care” (Booing those that kneel is an act of violent disrespect, a handshake met by a punch, 7 December).
Joe McCarthy
Dublin
