I was stunned to read the words of a Downing Street spokesperson on the nurses’ strike (Report, 12 December). After explaining that pay wouldn’t be discussed, they said other non-pay issues needed to be addressed, such as “issues affecting nurses’ morale”. Surely one of the biggest issues affecting nurses’ morale is pay?
Su Hardman
Woodbridge, Suffolk
• Your article says: “My Morphy Richards two-slot toaster costs about 1p a toasting, while boiling 0.5L of room-temperature water costs about 2p” (Does a kettle use more electricity than a TV? How much power your gadgets use, 13 Dcember). It might cost a lot more than 2p if you try to boil water in your toaster.
Peter Dewar
Bromley, London
• Re teacakes and baps (Letters, 12 December), I’ve also encountered batch, cob, bread cake, barm cake and roll. When cycling around the UK, I find it safer to ask for a sandwich.
Steve Jones
Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Waterford in Ireland boasts a unique roll known as a blaa. As a child, I loved these soft doughy baps for breakfast or lunch.
Patrick Russell
Ealing, London
• When sorting through the effects of my late uncle, we found a box labelled “Broken Christmas balls” (Letters, 12 December).
Robert Charlesworth
Honley, West Yorkshire
• I wonder what my family will make of our attic when we’ve gone, as I’ve carefully put away 10 sheets of Guardian Christmas wrapping paper that I’ve kept for years.
Jane Jones
Chester
• My answer to getting books published (Letters, 11 December) is to have a publisher who also has a day job. Combined with print-on-demand, which is now of excellent quality, very few copies need to be sold of any given book to make a profit, which is then divided equally between publisher and author. Of course, I have to do my own indexing and proofreading (or get friends to help), but I have far more influence on the final design and layout than I would with a “proper” publisher, I get regular royalty statements and I get paid.
Philip Heselton
Hull
