Tanni Grey-Thompson’s experience is beyond disgraceful (ParalympicsGB chief says Tanni Grey-Thompson’s train ordeal ‘a disgrace’, 28 August, but it is not only wheelchair users who are in dire need of a more disability-friendly world. Many people – especially older people – walk around on legs that are stiff, painful or unsteady. Getting off a train at my local station recently, I was greeted by a repeated recorded message: “Be aware of the gap.” I was all too aware of the gap, which was indeed considerable. What was less clear, there being nobody on the platform to help, was what I was expected to do about it.
Patricia de Wolfe
London
• Is Keir Starmer a secret country music fan? He appears to be taking inspiration from Lynn Anderson’s hit single – “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden” – in his austerity message to the public (Starmer hints at tax rises as he warns of ‘painful’ budget, 27 August).
Vanessa Ball
Coventry
