Jonathan Freedland takes several lessons from the excellent Our Friends in the North (Power, corruption and lies: the TV show that could teach Keir Starmer a lot about being bold, 1 September). But it is the pragmatic, diligent lawyer Mary who gets into power, not the radical and bold Nicky. It is she who has to clear up the mess of others.
Andy McKeon
Exeter
• I’m with Marie Paterson (Letters, 31 August). In our part of the east Midlands, the rhyme went: “A whistling woman or a crowing hen / is good for neither beast nor men.” That enabled my whistling mother to reply: “A woman who whistles or a hen that crows / brings good luck wherever she goes.”
Jacky Bright
Denford, Northamptonshire
