Rewarding Guardian subscribers with a gift card from Amazon after exposing the company’s tax avoidance (Letters, December 29) is far from hypocritical. Rather, it demonstrates the newspaper’s welcome independence of its advertisers and commercial sponsors and a determination to uphold the finest traditions of honest journalism. Well done.
David Banks
Former editor, Daily Mirror (1992-94)
• Why would you want to screen out potential entrepreneurs, engineers and artists (Largest UK sperm bank bans dyslexic donors, 30 December)? Dyslexia confers strengths and the difficulties with acquiring literacy can be mitigated by the right teaching. Anyway, their aims are impossible: 10% of the population are dyslexic – turning away the very small number who’ve had it confirmed would still leave a large number in the available gene pool.
Dominic Addington Lib Dem, House of Lords and British Dyslexia Association president
Margaret Malpas BDA joint chair
• With oil half the price it was 12 months ago, no hung parliament and another once-in-a-century event here in York, can I be excused from reading any of the articles about what to expect in 2016 (eg Why 2016 will be the year of living dangerously, 28 December)?
Harold Mozley
York
• Heard in Morrisons two days before Christmas: harried mother to exasperating child, “Do that again and I’ll put you on eBay.” Good to vary the threats I find.
Ali Cummings
Thixendale, North Yorkshire
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
