Good on you, Lidia Thorpe (King Charles heckled by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe at Australia’s Parliament House, 21 October). On 28 June 1894, Keir Hardie outraged the House of Commons with his response to a congratulatory address on the Duchess of York’s new baby. He protested that the Commons hadn’t had a vote of condolence for relatives of 290 men and boys who died in the Pontypridd colliery disaster on the same day as the birth. Another lesson for Keir Starmer?
Simon Fowler
Poole, Dorset
• I, too, travelled to London on Wednesday with timed tickets for the Van Gogh exhibition and joined a long queue (Letters, 24 October). It looked daunting, but we held our nerve and were admitted to the gallery only 40 minutes or so after our designated time of 1.30pm. Well worth it, as the exhibition was fantastic. Art lovers need not take fright – just allow a little extra time.
Bronwen Dyer-Smith
Emsworth, Hampshire
