Letters: In Brief

Sir: Gary Rhodes may have been born with a silver egg spoon and full instructions in his mouth, but not many of the rest of us were ("Storm in an egg cup as Gary says Delia's cookery advice is `insulting'", 27 October).

When I first left home nearly 40 years ago I bought, out of necessity, "The Young Wife's Cookbook" (6/-), which was full of the most basic but essential information - what a "cup-full" was, how much of anything to buy per person, how to boil an egg...

I still have it, I still refer to it occasionally, but I still can't do a decent poached egg. I shall see what Delia has to say.

BARRY SHEPPARD

Brighton

Sir: Having just moved an hour of daylight to the wrong end of the day about eight weeks before the equinox, why is it that we wait until about 12 or 13 weeks after the equinox before moving it back again? Is there some logic, or are the dates based on temperature rather than daylight?

ALAN BEALING

Kew, Surrey

Sir: I was somewhat amused the read that the British Government has asked the Habibie regime in Indonesia to investigate the deaths of the British newsmen in East Timor (report, 19 October). Perhaps now Tony Blair might ask the Continuity IRA to investigate the massacre in Omagh.

TOM HYLAND

East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, Dublin

Sir: Critics of the euro claim that it is wrong for a single interest rate to prevail throughout the EU, regardless of conditions in different member states.

Following Eddie George's admission that, in effect, different interest rates should ideally apply to various regions of the UK (report 22 October), will the euro-critics now advocate a separate currency for each region?

ALAN PAVELIN

Chislehurst, Kent