Sacha Baron Cohen may have tricked Tony Benn into thinking that Ali G was a real person, but he certainly didn’t succeed in making a fool of him (Booyakasha! Ali G is back – but even he can’t match the absurdity of modern Britain, 5 September). Matching the robustness of his answers to that of Ali G’s questions, Benn displayed no condescension or snobbery. Instead his response was a masterclass in courtesy, based on the view that anyone is entitled to ask questions, however far removed their speech is from that of an Oxford don. The laugh was rather on Baron Cohen.
Vivien Bailey
St Albans
• I beg to differ with Richard Ross (Letters, 9 September) about the invasion of England by William of Orange. He was invited to this country by politicians who wanted to remove the Catholic James II. The only reason William came with troops was to defeat the resistance of James’s loyal followers.
Shirley Pritchard
Wimbledon, London
• My late wife, Pat Green, always maintained that the elaborate hairstyle of the Willendorf Venus (Olga Soffer obituary, 16 August) was in fact knitted; not only that, but it was the blackberry stitch used by her, passed down through the generations via her mother.
Richard Dowsett
Potton, Bedfordshire
• Picky bits? Party tea (Letters, 3 September)? This sounds like a buffet, or as our family called it, a “grab, sit and gobble”.
Richard Crosher
Sheffield
• I would have liked to succeed in the nominative determinism game (Letters, 9 September), but too few people know a rare bookbinding term. I folded.
Michael Quinion
Thornbury, Gloucestershire
• These letters are doing my head in. I think I’ll go and sit quietly to engrave a small piece of whale ivory.
Lynne Scrimshaw
London
• I shouldn’t contribute to this topic – as I will only spoil it for everyone.
Alexander Marr
Gosport, Hampshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
