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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics

It’s good to talk, and to write letters too

Two residents in a retirement home playing cards.
‘I suspect a proportion of the ones he knows have lost a partner, and by necessity are members of the silent generation; it is just when they are in company that they talk the hind legs off a donkey,’ says Margaret Squires. Photograph: I Love Images/seniors/Alamy

Andrew Tucker claims “the silent generation” is a misnomer for those aged 75-plus, since the ones he knows talk (Letters, 19 June). I suspect a proportion of the ones he knows have lost a partner, and by necessity are members of the silent generation; it is just when they are in company that they talk the hind legs off a donkey. I haven’t yet started waylaying people in the street, but since my husband died last November, I haven’t been far off. I write to the Guardian instead.
Margaret Squires (aged 83)
St Andrews, Fife

• Driving through central London last Sunday, my satnav advised me to “turn left into Whitehall and then make a U-turn at Downing Street”. Was this a commentary on past actions or a forecast of government policy to come?
Alan Costar
Eltham, London

• Being an 85-year-old, I tested the theory in your article (Balancing on one leg may be useful health test in later life, research suggests, 20 June) and managed to stand for 12 seconds! Does it mean I have a good 10 years to go? Better not tell the family.
Judith Eddy
Harlech, Gwynedd

• Pro-Brexit zealots call remain supporters remoaners. Given the “dire effects on the economy” of leaving the EU referred to by John Harris (19 June), should we refer to supporters of that as Wrexiteers?
Nick Barton
Henstridge, Somerset

• Sometimes I find the Guardian rather gloomy, but the thought of apprentice woodland workers taking part in chainsaw training and first aid courses had me laughing all day (Letters, 17 June).
Jennifer Kennerley
Norwich

Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

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