Letters: Voters have spoken on a PM incapable of leading this country through crisis – The Telegraph

SIR I have been treating children with eating disorders for 25 years.

I can assure the Government that putting calorie counts on menus will do absolutely nothing to lower obesity levels, but will greatly increase the number of vulnerable children needing treatment for anorexia and bulimia. Even now the NHS cannot cope with the demand for mental health services.

Menus stating calories should be given only to those who want them.

Dr Dee DawsonLondon N20

SIR Recently my lunch in a cafe was tainted by the novel experience of reading calorie counts on the menu.

Obesity is clearly a national problem, but the solution is not to spoil what is usually a treat. When I commented on this to the person serving me, I was told that the most common reaction to this bizarre measure was from people who were anxious about the effect on those suffering from eating disorders.

Perhaps perversely, I took great pleasure in making an extra order, thereby adding 150 calories to my meal in protest.

Joanna GillumNottingham

SIR The right to buy, which the Prime Minister is considering reinstating, is a good idea provided the new scheme doesnt make the mistakes of the past.

In the 1980s, authorities were allowed to spend the revenue as they saw fit, resulting, to some extent, in the housing shortage today. This time, if the revenue is ring-fenced to build more social housing, the scheme could become self-perpetuating.

Stephen CloughWilmslow, Cheshire

SIR The right-to-buy scheme is wholly wrong. First, it reduces the number of houses available for rent by those who cannot afford to rent on the open market, and impoverishes the organisations that previously owned the properties, making it difficult for them to build replacements.

Secondly, in effect, it gives large sums of money to some families who are not necessarily more deserving than others. A more honest system would be just to give the householders the equivalent sum of money in cash to leave their rented homes and buy somewhere else.

David VaudreyDoynton, Gloucestershire

SIR We prefer online meetings with our sons teachers.

We book our slot, the time is adhered to, and the meeting automatically stops at an agreed point.

This means other parents do not have the opportunity to go on and on, and make everyone elses meeting later. You have a one-to-one conversation with the teacher, and get their full attention.

If you have a particular concern about your child, schools are usually willing to see you outside parent evenings.

If you live in a rural area, as we do, virtual meetings also prevent lots of extra journeys to school, thus helping the environment. Win-win.

Shirley StewartPenrith, Cumbria

SIR I am sceptical about the suggestion that home tests for urinary tract infections will save 10 million GP trips a year.

Patients will still have to be prescribed antibiotics either by phone or at their surgery, with or without a kit.

Until Nice, the Department of Health and doctors promote prevention and simple self-help through effective hygiene, women will still cost themselves hours of pain and the country millions of pounds.

Angela KilmartinLondon EC2

SIR I too had the thrill of achieving a hole-in-one (Letters, May 1) after 35 years of playing golf. Keen to do the right thing, I bought a drink for those players in the clubhouse after finishing my round. Unfortunately I was playing at a sizeable corporate golf day, which resulted in a bar bill of 150 somewhat dampening my sense of achievement.

Two years later, while renewing my ordinary household insurance, I discovered that this bill would have been covered up to 250.

Alan TomlinsonCheadle, Cheshire

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Letters: Voters have spoken on a PM incapable of leading this country through crisis - The Telegraph

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