On the Saturday that Susan Beere’s purchase of the Guardian was challenged as “leftwing dangerous rubbish” (Letters, 29 December), I too bought the paper and noticed a fellow villager next to me visibly shudder. “Did you actually shudder at the Guardian?” I asked. “I suppose I did,” was his blithe reply. I then admitted to having similar feelings about the Telegraph. “I read the Times,” he said, “and Rupert Murdoch is a very good businessman.” Time to leave.
Fraser Murdoch
Rushlake Green, East Sussex
• Susan Beere asks what to say to a guy who says the Guardian is “leftwing dangerous rubbish”. It’s more fun to use verbal aikido, drawing the other person out with a question. Something like “How do you know?” or “Can you be more specific?”, asked pleasantly, can either stymie the attacker or lead to an interesting conversation.
Charles Harris
Association of Ki Aikido
