Sir: Mrs M. Harris (letter, 9 December) draws attention to an important issue but hits the wrong target. The legal fees for a marriage service in the Church of England, from 1 January 1996, will be pounds 114, plus pounds 12 for the banns of marriage...

Sir: On behalf of children everywhere, we are in great sorrow for the death of headmaster Philip Lawrence. Our thoughts are with him and his family. As children, we feel partly responsible for this tragic incident and we feel betrayed by this terribl...

Our new opponents arrived, and I briefly explained that we were playing Precision Club and that we used reverse distributional signals. They were not very attentive and continued to discuss their dinner plans until this board came to the table. As We...

9st 5 (disaster); alcohol units 4 (g); cigarettes 12 (excellent); number of Christmas presents purchased 0 (bad); cards sent 0. 4pm Jude just rang in tears on her portable phone from the loos at work (Jude is Head of Futures at Salomon Brothers). She...

With 11.g3, White aims for a more quiet life than in the sharp lines with 11.c3 or 11.Bd3. Black is meant to be discouraged from playing f5 because of the scope it will give to a white bishop on g2. That's fine in theory, except that Kramnik never ga...

Sir: I'm touched by Magnus Mills's concern at seeing me hatless and freezing in Moscow ("Dear Angus Roxburgh", 8 December). Perhaps he could make his feelings known to BBC management, for it is they who insist their correspondents must not wear hats....

Economic evidence has been mounting in favour of such a cut. Several factors suggest the economy is weak and in need of a boost. Economic growth and inflation are both lower than expected. Manufacturing industry looks fragile. Export markets don't lo...

Sir: Recent letters to the editor on the validity of telling children the truth about the myth/lies of the existence of Santa Claus have continued to make the same error. They consistently refer to this "jolly fellow" as Father Christmas. The facts a...

Sir: Peter Popham ("Sorry, Britain is now closed", 12 December) misunderstands the intention and the effect of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. There is no question that Britain is now closed to refugees. The UK will continue to honour its obligation...

These limits previously stood at 21 units of alcohol a week for men and 14 for women. The Government has now announced daily limits - three to four units a day for men and two to three for women. The old sensible limits were backed as recently as Jun...

Mr Branson has a lot of questions to answer. Why didn't he make these allegations immediately? Then he could have caused a great deal of damage to Camelot's bid. Why did he not pursue the alleged bribery to Oflot, the lottery regulator, when the bids...

The reason for its precedence over any other point lies in the fact that backgammon is a game with outrageous reversals of fortune. You can be cruising to victory and suddenly fail to enter on a 2-point board for three rolls. Or you may get hit by a ...

Sir: Angela Lambert was given a good deal of inaccurate information on recovered memory of abuse. Many children of "False Memory Society" parents never forget, yet are still portrayed by their denying parents as victims of brainwashing therapists. Re...

Sir: Fran Abrams ("Students come clean with change of image", 11 December) writes: Today's Oxbridge students list Jesus Christ and their own parents as their greatest heroes, the Bible as their favourite book and going to church among their favourite...

Sir: I think it is unwise for royalty to be appearing to support a political party by sharing a platform with one of its representatives (report of the Princess of Wales's speech to the housing charity Centrepoint, 8 December). But it is strange that...

Sir: As a linguist concerned with the influence of language on cultural behaviour, I have an observation regarding the genesis of the current BSE controversy. It is widely acknowledged that the bovine form of this disease originated with the feeding ...

Sir: Angela Lambert's account of parents accused of child abuse ("Guilty until proven innocent", 7 December) was ill thought-out. While deeming the Boots employee who contacted police in the Somerville case "(no doubt) well-meaning", her overall symp...

Frank Bruno, wasn't it? No. Oh. Who was it? Jonathan Edwards. Who's Jonathan Edwards? British Sports Personality of the Year. Good! And who was he before that? He was plain old Jonathan Edwards. And what sort of a personality does he have? He has the...

Mr Blair's plans for local government are more radical. He would introduce directly elected mayors, breaking with the British tradition that governmental chief executives - be they prime ministers or council leaders - are elected by legislative repre...

Did other great turning-points in political destiny have the same anaesthetising effect on those who lived through them? Did newspaper readers in Rhode Island and Boston yawn as they flipped yet another wearisome report of the confederalists' latest ...

The perplexing footnote is that Campomanes has now had the post of "Chairman" created for him, and is still seen to play rather too prominent a role for the liking of those who proposed a vote of no confidence in him and his team. What exactly happen...

English history is full of such men (but rather fewer women - something to do with male selfishness no doubt) who go their own way with vigour and style. Eccentrics such as Squire John Mytton, who reputedly got through eight bottles of port a day and...