Opponents impaled on Vlad’s cross sword

John Crace (Digested week, 23 October) may enjoy his week’s holiday from parliament, but the Lords will still be at work, grappling with the appalling internal market bill. But we are being given a day off on 5 November. Is this because No 10 press officers fear the headlines if the Lords were to rebel against the crucial clause on international law on such a symbolic day?
William Wallace
Liberal Democrats, House of Lords

• Your writer (Editorial, 23 October) will perhaps be interested to know that it is not only in the south that autumn-flowering ivy is enjoyed, by us and the insects. It flourishes in local parks and gardens here in inner-city Liverpool. Recently I discovered a ragged robin in flower on the newly laid out Princes Avenue boulevard in Toxteth, and counted over nine different fungi growing in Prince’s Park. So many small and precious consolations in the north of England.
Noel Little
Liverpool

• The presidential election in the Seychelles resulted in a win for the opposition party (Report, 25 October). The outgoing president, Danny Faure, was the first to congratulate his rival, Wavel Ramkalawan, and wished him good luck. This is a lesson that should be learned across the Atlantic.
San Cassimally
Edinburgh

• You talk of Boris Johnson’s “argument” that Sadiq Khan bankrupted TfL before coronavirus struck (Editorial, 21 October). Why not call a lie a lie?
Deirdre Burrell
Mortimer, Berkshire

• Is your cryptic crossword (23 October) the latest secret weapon in the culture war? Congratulations to Vlad for impaling so many opponents in one compilation – bungling Boris, Dido Harding and test and trace, to name a few.
Paul Clarke
Horsham, West Sussex