Surely it is misleading to say that these items have been “donated to the nation” (Tolkien and CS Lewis manuscripts among treasures made available to public in 2023, 19 December). If £52m worth of items have been accepted by the nation in lieu of tax, haven’t we, the taxpayers, bought them?
John Thorn
Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• We have assiduously conserved the handmade cards and milk teeth of our now grown-up children. Given the artistic and cultural significance of our collection, we wonder if HMRC would be prepared to accept them in lieu of tax?
Gwyn Fields
Sheffield
• I recognise the silent treatment (Letters, 17 December) as an efficient family management tool. However, for the family to work, communications are essential. My solution was to hang three small labels round my neck: “YES”, “NO”, “BOLUX”. Mutual laughter normally broke the deadlock.
Bernard Openshaw
Weybridge, Surrey
• One source of extra funding for the BBC (Letters, 17 December) could be the return of the radio licence for TV-free people like me.
Tony Green
Ipswich, Suffolk
• Rishi Sunak and Giorgia Meloni share a common interest in fantasy fiction (Report, 16 December). This may explain their commitment to neoliberal economics.
Scott Poynting
Newtown, Sydney, Australia
• Re your travel writers’ favourite finds of 2023 (16 December), I’ve camped at the same Dumfries and Galloway site yearly since 1976.
Peter Gray
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
• I wonder if this is one of the most unusual Christmas presents – two bags of horse manure for my vegetable patch, from my son!
Carolyn Martin
Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
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