Boris Johnson has his umbilicus in a twist

Boris Johnson at the new JCB factory in Vadodara, Gujarat, during his visit to India. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

I see Boris Johnson called a JCB factory in India a “living, breathing incarnation of the umbilicus between the UK and India” (Outcry in India as Boris Johnson visits JCB plant amid demolitions row, 21 April). This is someone who has a classics degree and doesn’t know that the umbilicus is the navel. Anyone else might have said “umbilical cord”, but he has to pretend that he knows Latin. A poor analogy, anyway, since the cord only serves a useful purpose for nine months.
John Illingworth
Bradford

• It would be a more appropriate analogy to compare Boris Johnson to the incomparable WG Grace (Letters, 22 April). When bowled out in a game, he simply put the bails back on the stumps and said: “They’ve come to see me bat!”
Arif Qawi
London