Lord Browne courageously admits realising only after he left BP that being in the closet so long was "a colossal waste of energy". Could he reassure us that such a significant error of judgment (ie to be profligate with natural resources) did not apply, during his 38 years at the company, to actions and policies affecting the planet's environment?
Adam Glasser
London
Lord Browne is no hero. He turned BP into a company whose obsession with cost-cutting was linked to the Gulf of Mexico environmental disaster. He was then the architect of the university tuition fee increases which have blighted a generation. And he is now, as chairman of Cuadrilla, one of the leading advocates of fracking. Hailing him as a "gay activist" gives him a spurious respectability which is dangerous, given his huge influence on government policy.
Bob Banks
Grindleford, Derbyshire
Thank you for the heartwarming story about the intrepid and resourceful archivists of Timbuktu. Amid the brutality and violence, it was refreshing and encouraging to read a feelgood story.
Chandra Sankarayya
Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne
Rachel's friend's mother was clearly a very understanding woman. I wish there had been someone like that in my life when I was living under similar circumstances. I tried to gently "break away" from my mother's religion in my early teens. I liked inappropriate music and I was dying for a pair of jeans but was only allowed to wear skirts. I knew what music I liked, rock mostly, but due to my upbringing I had very limited knowledge of it (names of band members, who they'd previously played with). I tried to become involved in conversations about music with the kids at school but they just laughed at me. I had no support in trying to escape the religion but I managed it eventually and have never looked back.
Kim Levy
Haifa, Israel
Joshua Ferris's commentary on knowing your food tribes includes coeliac as if it were a fashionable dietary/lifestyle choice. It is neither a choice nor an "allergy to wheat". In severe cases and left undiagnosed, this autoimmune condition (where the sufferer is unable to process the protein gluten) can cause symptoms such as constipation, vomiting and severe weight loss: as it did in my 12-month-old daughter. Now she has been diagnosed she is healthy and happy, and far from "dead inside".
Felicity White
Bristol
I was astonished to read the ill-informed, outdated and squeamish attitudes of some of those interviewed for Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett's article Unsafe Sex. I agree with the growing concern over the potential risks of hormonal contraceptives. However, modern condoms are a feat of engineering; they are neither "disgusting" nor "funny" and we should perhaps encourage their use to be considered as ordinary as the routine brushing of one's teeth.
Lucy Rhiannon Cox (seriously)
London N7
Amazingly, not once was there a mention of the diaphragm. I was fitted with one in the 60s and used it for 30-plus years with never a failure. Granted, it's not good against STIs and can be messy. But it's hormone-free, tucks into a handbag and can be inserted in advance. Sisters, please have more respect for your bodies and get measured up now.
Nicola Watson
Lincoln
After spending an hour failing on the crossword, never answering more than three on the quiz and giving up on the Scrabble, I'm grateful to a wet bank holiday weekend for giving me extra time to find the solutions.
Gill Perkins
Sheffield
• Write to Guardian Weekend, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU (weekend@theguardian.com), or comment at theguardian.com. A full name and postal address (not for publication) must be supplied. For inclusion on Saturday, letters should reach us by midday on Tuesday, and may be edited.
