Robert Winston suggests all cyclists should have number plates because he was abused and kicked by a cyclist (Report, 30 March). Very few people are injured by cyclists. Pedestrians are a much more serious problem, looking at stabbings in London alone. Perhaps all pedestrians should be required to wear dog tags?
Robert Anderson
London
• The wonderful Izzy Young (Obituary, 30 March) may have been an “entrepreneur” but he was an atypical one. One slow weekday in his MacDougal Street store a young lad was perusing books and records. Izzy asked the boy – a complete stranger – to mind the empty shop while he went for lunch. He returned to find some records and an instrument gone. His response: “Well, at least maybe the kid will learn to play.” And when Tom Paley visited Stockholm after Izzy had moved there, I asked how Izzy was doing. “He’s doing well,” said Tom, “he’s just as good at losing money in Stockholm as he was in New York.”
Joe Locker
Surbiton, London
• When I was a boy in 1950s Glasgow, cinemas often closed down with notices on their doors saying “Closed for refurbishment”. They never re-opened. I hope that Ian Jack’s “I’m taking a break … to return in the autumn” (Opinion, 30 March) does not prove to be similarly misleading. A “break” from his erudition, wit and perfect prose is bad enough.
Alan Alexander
Edinburgh
• Your article (Report, 28 March) and subsequent letters regarding the French guidance on maximum consumption of wine reminded me of a colleague who was asked by his GP why he drank as much as a bottle of a whisky a day (following the demise of his wife). His response was “That’s all I can afford”.
Steve Vanstone
Wolverhampton
• Re the letter (30 March) comparing French advisory daily wine intake (2019/1950s), my wife and I have no difficulty with either two glasses a day or a litre a day. Our glasses each hold half a litre.
Colin Steward
Wallington, Surrey
• The anecdote about therapists (Letters, 29 March) reminded me of the old joke about two psychiatrists who meet up once a year for a drink and a chat. After half an hour one says to the other: “Well, you’re OK. How am I?”
Harry D Watson
Edinburgh
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