Letters: In Brief

Sir: Hamish McRae asks why the EU is more corrupt than its constituent countries ("Corruption's bad for your wealth", 12 January). Isn't the answer that we are all more prone to cheating members of a different tribe/family/country than to cheating our own? The moral: keep the EU budget to a minimum.

R S MUSGRAVE

Durham

Sir: With reference to your article on the BT Newcastle call centre (Magazine, 2 January), your comments on Newcastle were as predictable as expected. "A city that is struggling to leave the 19th [century]" - get a life: Newcastle is one of the most vibrant cities in the country. "pounds 16,000 per year ... is as good as it gets in a depressed post-industrial town" - well, I'm an ordinary working person and I earn far more than that, as do most of my associates.

PHIL DENT

Chester-le-Street, Durham

Sir: Elizabeth Stuart (letter, 12 January) says that the point of the Christ event lies not in what Jesus did but in who he was. It is this kind of theology - making fantastical claims for things invisible - which has allowed the churches for centuries to ignore the teachings of Jesus in favour of falling out over esoteric metaphysical speculation about his identity. Jesus in the sky is safe and useful for shoring up the claims of the churches; Jesus the man with both feet planted on the ground is as dangerous to the establishment today as he was way back when.

MICHAEL WRIST

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Sir: Could the designers of motor cars be encouraged to include as a fixture a personal breathalyser kit? I fully recognise the "Don't drink and drive" advice, but people still take risks, and to have the opportunity at hand to check one's alcohol level before taking the wheel might be a useful warning.

Mrs PRUE SKINNER

Winchester