The blind polling of American voters (Kamala Harris’s economic policy slate more popular than Trump’s – poll, 30 September) reminded me of Gyles Brandreth’s excursion to Guildford in 2019 for The One Show on BBC One. He asked people in the town what they thought of a whole raft of policies, from scrapping university fees and restoring grants to having a 50% top tax rate, and most were very much in favour, until he showed them a photo of the party leader proposing these policies. This was, of course, one Jeremy Corbyn, and so they voted Tory. Another fine mess…
Deirdre Burrell
Mortimer, Berkshire
• No fewer than eight Zs in the quick crossword (26 September): zeppelin, zephyr, zodiac and zeal at the top, with Suez, ersatz, Chavez and Alcatraz at the bottom. Simply overzealousness by your present compiler, or is it a new Gen Z one?
Adrian Brodkin
London
• Interesting that Stella McCartney is printing doves on silk tops and dresses (Stella McCartney preaches Peace and Dove in mission to save birds, 30 September). What are her feelings for the silkworms?
Margaret Vandecasteele
Cupar, Fife
• I would have thought the correct name for the footwear on offer at the Tory conference should be flop-flops (Report, 26 September).
Vee Singleton
Framlingham, Suffolk
• Should Belfast Lough be renamed Groundhog Bay (Cruise ship stuck in Belfast for four months returns hours after leaving, 1 October)?
Colwyn Lee
Swarkestone, Derbyshire
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