Letters to the Editor

Letters: Hamas knew how Israel would respond, yet its leaders still chose to act

Plus: Civil Service hours; UK energy security; Lloyds' lunacy; unhelpful Heathrow; a virtuoso's solo; the King's new coins; bank closures

Letters: What choice does Israel have in the face of an enemy that seeks its total destruction?

Plus: rotten vaping; electric car fires; a bench for the Sycamore Gap; Army housing reform; blackberry jam; and the power of Evensong

Letters: How it feels to be a British Jewish parent unsure if your children will be safe at school

Plus: Labour and NHS reform; a forgotten hero of rock; the prodigal Church; realities of Heathrow; hanging on for HMRC; and pointless words

Letters: There is a word for members of Hamas – and the BBC should use it

Plus: Labour’s economics; the homelessness crisis; Heathrow’s success; the surge in shoplifting; and rodents riding the Underground

Letters: Mounting anti-Semitism means London’s Jews live in fear for their safety

Plus: driving theory tests; double-decker trains; dental deserts; running shoes; and Rollo the Count of Rouen

Letters: Did Keir Starmer’s speech amount to a convincing plan for the country?

Plus: standing with Israel; NHS gridlock; policing shoplifting; the right trousers; low-cost rail schemes; and Henry V's reputation

Letters: The shameful and sinister attempts to excuse Hamas’s barbaric tactics

Plus: what Labour needs to tell voters; heat pump laws; rotten NHS dentistry; double-decker trains; and Lord Rosebery's lover

Letters: Labour’s plan to tax private schools will limit children’s opportunities

Plus: Middle East crisis; migration after Brexit; powering electric cars; unreliable rail ticket machines; and a trouser shortage

Letters: Russia’s latest act of extreme brutality should be a wake-up call to the West

Plus: Sunak emulating Blair; Natural England in a muddle; who pays for water company failure; a united Ireland; and a plucky apple tree

Letters: The SNP’s by-election drubbing was just the latest sign of a party in freefall

Plus: cigarette ban; West Country transport; deserted banks; bedbug busters; charging guests; gentler dramas; and bumper conker crops

Letters: Sunak’s attack on the right to smoke harms his Conservative credentials

Plus: addressing AI risks; heat pump noise pollution; unmanned railway stations; a Spanish lesson for John Lewis; and DIY sandwiches

Letters: The Prime Minister has given disgruntled Conservatives a little hope

Plus: UK bureaucracy; the prison crisis; problem plug; menopause labels; tired of Today; EV etiquette; stiff upper lips; cost of mail fails

Letters: A mess like HS2 leaves ordinary people with little faith in politicians

Plus: regulating counselling and psychotherapy; John Lewis’s decline; Britain’s perverse nuclear policy; and the purpose of pubs

Letters: Welcome signs that the Government is finally seeing sense on HS2

Plus: water companies' insult to customers; Welby's pulpit politics; phones in schools; parking apps; and a red card for Var

Letters: It is not Justin Welby’s job to meddle in Britain’s immigration policy

Plus: healthcare reform; schools during Covid; where HS2 should have started; sharing bathwater; and an early audition by Michael Gambon

Letters: The exorbitant and unwanted HS2 project has become a symbol of government by Blob

Plus: Braverman's priorities; EU market-only membership; sluggish rural broadband; the case for zoos; and why Welsh wine is having a moment

Letters: The crisis in general practice can only be solved by listening to doctors’ concerns

Plus: Sunak changes gear; pupils missing school; why Clandon Park is in safe hands; artists improving with age; and an overworked robot

Letters: Voters see through Labour’s spin on its punitive plan for private schools

Plus: how to fix the GP system; knife crime in London; an alternative to HS2; in defence of PE; and the cost of non-alcoholic beer

Letters: Drilling for oil close to home makes sense in a time of growing volatility

Plus: SNP destruction of Scotland; Cracknell’s race for Colchester; Lucy Letby retrial; the National Trust’s lack of vision; and BBC sayings

Letters: Backtracking on HS2 now would be a betrayal of northern England

Plus: Braverman on asylum; turning off the Today programme; standing charge scourge; and reasons to be thankful for the National Trust

Letters: The HS2 farce highlights Britain’s inability to deliver major projects

Plus: a guarantee for armed police officers; speed limit costs; a way to boost Ukrainian morale; and mowing the lawn on a Sunday

Letters: There are better ways to level-up Britain than wasting billions on HS2

Plus: the fate of Clandon Park; made late by Welsh speed limits; a problem with modern novels; junior doctor pay; and clinking at Versailles

Letters: Labour shows no passion for backing Britain – preferring to copy the EU

Plus: appeasing Iran; the language of maternity; cheery cycling; the future of religious broadcasts; and in the trenches with Keith Floyd

Letters: The Chancellor’s resistance to tax cuts reflects a Government all too willing to plod

Plus: junior doctors' duty; Russell Brand's online platforms; the case for 20mph speed limits; against the Enlightenment; and church beer

Letters: The PM has finally shown voters that he can govern like a Conservative

Plus: junior doctor exodus; infected blood victims; Welsh residents tired of nannying; beer in churches; and an ironing odyssey

Letters: The PM has put common sense before ideology – but will have to face down the net zero zealots

Plus: rejoining the EU; the scourge of fly-tipping; speed limits in Wales; a fee to see the GP; and how the Romans squandered their empire

Letters: Rishi Sunak could capitalise on Labour’s misguided moves in Europe

Plus: gender policies in schools; punishing high-street rents; how a Tory leader is elected; replacing RE; and pricey ice cream

Letters: Plans to bolster the NHS’s woke bureaucracy are an insult to patients

Plus: the future of HS2; National Trust decline; inconvenient truths about Wales’s 20mph limit; and Waitrose’s plant-based sausage skins

Letters: The Government needs to find the courage to scrap HS2 altogether

Plus: blinkered GPs; Russell Brand's history; the case for Labour's migrant plan; tighter laws on dogs; and learning to love ironing

Letters: Relying on wind – or the French – is not a sensible energy policy

Plus: selling off Church land; suicide checklists; the need for bells on bicycles; memories of Army food; and Agatha Christie’s wardrobe

Letters: Royal Mail’s Christmas penny-pinching will drive even more customers away

Plus: banning the Bully; nurse to the rescue; caring airlines; Richard Attenborough's centenary; and why Charlie Watts left Lewes

Letters: Labour’s migrant plan should alarm those who voted for sovereignty

Plus: making owners accountable for their dogs; HMRC incompetence; British Gas’s chat-bot; a ban on vaping; and sensible plastic spoons