Felix Bellaby’s letter (27 January) reminded me of my recent hospital stay, where I spent a long time in the recovery room after surgery with my blood pressure refusing to rise to an acceptable level. The nurse switched on the radio to catch the news, dominated by Boris Johnson and “partygate”. “Listen to this,” he instructed me, “this will get your blood pressure up.” It worked. I was back in my bed a few minutes later.
Chris Scarlett
Sheffield
• I bumped into Barry Cryer (Obituary, 27 January) several years ago on a train from London to Warrington. He was in standard class, and he bought me and a few others several cans of lager and entertained us with marvellous funny stories for a couple of hours. In these ludicrous times, his wit and humanity will be sadly missed.
Phil Sinnott
Liverpool
• Thank you to all the country diary writers who bring us a little oasis of calm among all the politics, doom and gloom. Nearly every day it includes a word I don’t know, such as “marcescence” (28 January).
Judith Milnes
Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire
• After Liz Truss’s very expensive lunch and now using a private jet to get to Australia at vast expense to the taxpayer (Report, 27 January), I dread to think how much the redecoration of No 10 will cost if she ever becomes prime minister.
Michael Ennals
Maldon, Essex
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