Dr Audrey Boucher (Letters, 23 June) is right – there is a stigma around the use of hearing aids. People seem to be ashamed to say they wear hearing aids, though glasses are acceptable. When I started wearing them some years ago, I vowed I would not be afraid of letting people know. I refer to them in conversation if the subject comes up, and I take them out in public if necessary, for example, to change batteries. Maybe if more of us did this, hearing aid use would become as accepted as spectacle-wearing.
Lorna Reynolds
Wigton, Cumbria
• Re your article on Nadine Dorries’ Mid Bedfordshire constituency, few phrases will fill Conservative hearts with joy quite like “both the Liberal Democrats and Labour believe they can win” (Report, 22 June), particularly when it concerns a seat where Tories routinely win nearly double the Labour and Lib Dem votes combined. Why must voters be left to figure out how best to vote tactically when pride and stupidity prevent the opposition parties from campaigning tactically?
Daniel Owen
Torrington, Devon
