As we fill in our tax returns, spare a thought for Apple – who always seem to fill theirs in wrong

As a compliant taxpayer I am always very careful about my tax returns and any claims I might make, and pay the tax that I am required to.

Over time I probably have missed an occasional amount that I should have paid tax on, but I haven’t forgotten to pay $37bn/£27bn that Apple is now going to.

No one pays more tax than they have to, so I am wondering what Apple was doing and how much of their profits came from my now-quite-old iPad.

We all have to pay our share and that does include all of the international companies based in tax-favourable countries.

Dennis Fitzgerald
Melbourne, Australia

We can transform our oceans with a little effort

As to society’s adaptability, now using far fewer plastic bags, a financial nudge in the right direction hasn’t proved too painful. Let’s hope the same nudge brings a new norm for coffee cups. In truth, such a push has always been the effective way.

I was still at school when my family’s small wire business became subject to new environmental laws. We stopped draining acid swillings into sewerage, and began to treat them with lime in order to produce a “cake” which could be discarded safely in landfill. It wasn’t the cost of that which caused the demise of our industry, but rather a world less dependent on packaging staples.

The rivers and canals of the West Riding of Yorkshire are now totally transformed from my boyhood recollection, buzzing with life and heritage. We can do the same for the oceans if the nudge is there. If successful, we shall have the prophet David Attenborough to thank.

Rev Peter Sharp
Cheshire

A tip for recycling coffee cups

My supermarket gives me coffee in a cardboard and plastic cup, with a plastic cover. I don’t know if the cover is recyclable as it’s not labelled, but the cup itself isn’t, in its original form. I put it in the washing up, which soaks the card and enables it to have the thin plastics liner peeled off – liner to rubbish bin, cardboard to compost – problem greatly reduced.

Elizabeth Pullan
Boxgrove

Can we loan Boris to France in return for the Bayeux Tapestry?

We should thank our friends across the Channel for offering the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry. It is a timely gesture of goodwill. What National Treasure to offer in return? I’d suggest Boris driving his bus, now with even more money on board. He could also distribute this largesse to French peasants.

This would of course be a net loss to the British taxpayer – a small price to pay if it keeps him out of mischief for a few months.

Richard Greenwood
Bewdley

Jeremy Corbyn is too old? Remember the havoc our young prime ministers wrought on the country

Tony Blair was a young prime minister – he took us into the disastrous, and possibly illegal, war in Iraq.

David Cameron was young – he got us into this Brexit mess.

A bit more age and wisdom might not be a bad thing.

Susan Alexander
Frampton Cotterell

To tackle loneliness, we must remember the words of Jesus

It will be interesting to see what proposals that Tracey Crouch, the new minister for loneliness, develops to meet the needs of the estimated 9 million people who are affected by this problem.

Loneliness is a symptom of our materialistic and consumer society, whereby the majority of people focus on self-interest and advancement rather than helping meet the needs of their neighbour. I would suggest that rather than throwing bottomless-pit-amounts of capital into new ventures for lonely people, the Government should encourage a change of heart and attitude of the majority who are not lonely.

If we all took note of Jesus’s advice that after loving God we should love our neighbour as ourselves, there would be very few lonely people in this nation.

J Longstaff
Buxted

The destruction of the milk man and the local pub has contributed to loneliness

So this Tory government is trying to tackle loneliness – such a shame that previous Tory government policies from many years ago have contributed to the current situation. For example,

1. Changes to milk delivery. Allowing supermarkets to sell milk as a loss leader, killing off the milk round. Depriving many of daily contact which also acted as early warning when people living alone fell ill.

2. Changes to alcohol sales, which again have allowed supermarkets to sell as a loss leader. The widening gulf between pub and supermarket prices has not only killed many local pubs, leading to isolation, but priced many OAPs from having a couple of halves and a good chin wag in their local.

Alan Hutchinson
Address supplied