The argument is made by some that MPs working in second jobs is a good thing because such professional expertise enriches parliament (Geoffrey Cox missed winter fuel votes while working abroad in second job, 11 October). There is a simple solution. When I was a clinical professor at a UK university, I was allowed to engage in private practice on the condition that I donated all such earnings to my principal employer (the university). I suggest Geoffrey Cox does likewise.
Prof Jonathan Rees
Edinburgh
• Joy Webb misses the point when she complains about food waste at Halloween (Letters, 11 October). In order to be used as a decoration, a pumpkin has to be hollowed out. We can’t be the only people eating delicious orangey soups and pies after a hard night’s trick or treating.
Julie Carlisle
Kintbury, Berkshire
• What is clearly a nametape, almost certainly a Cash’s nametape, was referred to in your article as a “label” (More clues in 100-year-old Mount Everest mystery as climber’s foot found, 11 October). Surely nametapes are not yet a thing of the past?
Helen Simmons
Datchet, Berkshire
• “Ethiopia 0 Guinea 344” (Results, print edition, 16 October)? Surely a record! Then I checked online: the score was 0-3.
Glyn Ford
Dobcross, Greater Manchester
