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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National

The magic policing barrel is now empty

Police officers in riot gear gesture with batons during the 'Enough is Enough' demonstration held in reaction to the fatal stabbings in Southport.
‘There are ordinary humans behind those riot shields.’ Photograph: Peter Powell/AFP/Getty Images

As a retired police officer, I wait with interest to find out where Keir Starmer is going to find the officers to guard prisoners held in police cells because jails are full (Report, 18 August). Those being dragged out on their rest days to ensure there are no more riots were the ones at the bottom of the magic policing barrel, I believe. Policing is challenging at the best of times; there are ordinary humans behind those riot shields, and they can’t go on cementing the holes in society indefinitely.
Amanda Hurd
Halifax, West Yorkshire

• Ukip was not the first political party to hold a conference in Skegness (Five British seaside towns with hidden histories, 20 August). For at least 30 years, the Labour party held its East Midlands regional conference there every February, and I can attest to the resort’s slogan “Skegness is so bracing”. We always received a warm welcome, and it is well worth a visit by your readers.
Roy Kennedy
Chief whip, House of Lords

• Oh lord. You’ve done it now. You’ve told everyone that Donald Trump is not the tallest US president in history (Trivia corner, G2, 22 August). Given his obsession with size, he’ll be livid.
Sue Ball
Brighton, East Sussex

• You say you “incorrectly misspelled” Nicholas Le Prevost’s surname (Corrections and clarifications, 18 August). How would you correctly misspell it?
Jeanne Warren
Garsington, Oxfordshire

• 2B (Archaeologists uncover ‘Shakespeare’ doorway in Norfolk theatre, 20 August)?
Jude Carr
London

• Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers’ best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.

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