Letters: Brief letters

Geoffrey Lean makes the common mistake of equating Friends of the Earth simply with its London office ("Bigger, richer, duller...", 5 May). Arguably FoE's greatest success has been the development of its vigorous network of local groups. Across the country these are a constant thorn in the side of complacent local councils and over-ambitious developers.

Don Mathew, Lowestoft

I don't know why teachers complain about Chris Woodhead's invective concerning low reading ages in inner-city schools. The Government has provided an efficient remedy: selecting only children unlikely to prove embarrassing to today's "image is everything" seats of learning. After all, nothing succeeds like success.

Tom Hardy

100753.2512@compuserve.com

The UK is not a "sovereign nation" ("Doomed to Split?", 5 May). England or the English may or may not be, but the Scots, Welsh and many others are not.

P Gray, Penmon, Gwynedd

According to Robert Milliken ("Bloody legacy surfaces on idyllic island", 5 May), the Tasmanian devil is extinct on the island. In fact it has become extinct on the mainland of Australia but survives in remote areas of Tasmania.

David West, Glasgow

Surely the point of Hester Lacey's article "How much do you really eat?" (Real Life, 5 May) was that it's all right to eat more than starvation rations and even to put on some weight. Why then illustrate it with the thinnest model I've ever seen?

R Butterworth, London N1