I read with interest Gordon Brown’s article (Nationalism is the ideology of our age. No wonder the world is in crisis, 15 November). He observes the increasing use of nationalistic impulses in world politics and the dangers associated with this. I was wondering if this was the same Gordon Brown whose speech promising “British jobs for British workers” as prime minister in 2007 enabled the far right to scapegoat immigrants.
Huw Williams
Bristol
• The answer to nurses’ pay appears simple (Nurses across UK vote to go on strike for first time in dispute over pay, 9 November). When commodities are in short supply the cost goes up, as we all know too well with energy, petrol and food. Nurses are in short supply, so pay goes up. Surely a 50% rise is reasonable in the circumstances?
Michael Dawson
London
• Taxpayers pay for an MP earning £85,000 a year to be served subsidised lunches in the Commons dining room, including a “Somerset Pomova apple and almond cake with apple brandy custard” for £2.80. Meanwhile, a nurse earning £22,000 a year in the north of England reportedly pays £3 in the staff canteen for a tuna sandwich.
Dr Peter Lindsay
Leeds
• Now that the chancellor and prime minister are taking their cues for financial stability from the markets, I wonder if the UK’s position would be strengthened by joining a free trade organisation (Sunak says higher taxes and spending cuts needed to satisfy markets, 13 November).
Alan Rigby
Taunton, Somerset
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