The easiest way to protect the red squirrel (Report, 24 February) is for us to eat the grey ones. The latter are too plentiful and should be easy to trap. Many of us have no problem eating rabbits, so the greys could be a cheap addition to our diet. The bird population would also benefit from a cull of these pests. So, Delia, could we please have a recipe for écureuil à la bourguignonne?
Donald Blow
Kirkcaldy, Fife
• John Harris (What’s the point in building a million new homes if they’re not fit to live in?, 22 February) writes honestly of the difficulties facing new home owners when the rush to build leads to corners being cut. We are also aware of houses being sold leasehold, some with onerous clauses which double ground rent every few years. Caveat emptor.
Brenda Banks
Teignmouth, Devon
• Your account of the influence held by Oxford PPE graduates made fascinating reading (The Long Read, 23 February). I shall wave my copy of it in the face of an economist friend, who insists the world is largely run by graduates from the London School of Economics.
Dr Tudor Rickards
Stockport
• We’re fascinated by the currant theme (Letters, passim). My grandmother, originally from Saddleworth, would make a “Nelson One-Roll” when she had a small piece of pastry left over – a circle of pastry folded over some currants and a little bit of sugar, the edges crimped then baked. But why “Nelson”? She had no idea, it just was what they were called.
Karen and Vivienne Fry
Nottingham
• At last someone dares to review unfavourably the vacuous La La Land (G2, 24 February). Everyone we know who has seen this picture is as mystified as we are by the adulation of the critics. One friend was embarrassed to have taken other people to see it. Chunks of the film are simply boring, the characters have no depth, the dancing is elementary and the music unmemorable.
Keith Swanwick
Harpenden, Hertfordshire
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