Is there some legal or Latin term for the logical black hole whereby the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs can deny a request to clean up the River Deben because not enough people swim in it, yet must surely understand that the reason more people don’t swim in it is because the water isn’t clean enough (Bathing water status rarely granted in England, analysis finds, 23 March)?
Judith Martin
Winchester
• I hope the irony is not lost on French protesters that the postponed state visit was being undertaken by a man who started a new job at the age of 73 (King Charles’s visit to France postponed amid protests, 24 March).
John Hubbard
Bournemouth, Dorset
