Dear Editor,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff at Tesco's store at Paulton.

The Tuesday just before Christmas — you can just imagine it can't you, the chaos inside the store. Where there is absolute bedlam going on inside where all are jostling around, one big melee of people shoving and pushing to get anywhere, all in a mad rush to get in and get out as fast as one can.

We had finished our shopping and we were on the tills to pay when they had to change staff. A young lady went on the till. It would not reboot to let her get on to the till, but she said give it ten minutes and I will have to reboot again. But after ten minutes no luck so the young lady called for her supervisor who arrived pretty quickly.

She then proceeded to try to reboot the till — unfortunately, no luck. We had now been waiting over ten minutes. We had three-quarters on the conveyor belt of that till, so just like that the supervisor stopped some one going on the next till and helped us to transport all our shopping on to the next till.

The supervisor and the young lady were very professional, courteous and helpful. Again the management should be proud of their staff.

Thank you once again,

via email

Midsomer Norton

Dear Editor,

I'm 90 and have written the following verses:

When your senses start to decline.

After some whiskey and a bottle of wine.

You're not clear in the head, and are ready for bed,

New Year's Eve isn’t really the time.

My answer when New Year draws near.

When the mind is uncluttered is clear.

It's the obvious solution, make just one resolution.

To be here the same time next year.

Stuart Gregory, via email

Dear Editor,

Some insurance firms and their lawyers are using cynical tactics to avoid paying compensation to people who suffer serious injuries due to the negligence of others.

There is a worrying rise in the number of personal injury cases in which defendant insurers accuse injured people of exaggerating, or lying about, the harm they have suffered.

It is an abuse of the rules on what is known as ‘fundamental dishonesty’. It is a deliberate ploy by some unscrupulous defendants to try to get cases dismissed by the courts, or to browbeat victims into dropping their claims.

Vulnerable injured people who are suffering because of awful, life-changing events are made to feel as though they are not believed. They become emotionally and financially exhausted, terrified that they will be liable for everyone’s legal costs if they fight on and fail.

Insurers with deep pockets are free to throw around baseless accusations of fraud with no consequences. But for a vulnerable injured person the impact could be that they do not get the treatment, care, and support they need. Sanctions for baseless allegations need to be introduced.

Matthew Tuff

President of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL)

Dear Editor,

As we look to the new year, many of us will be making resolutions to improve our health and wellbeing. One that could make a real difference to millions across the UK would be to think about allergy, talk about allergy.

Allergy is more than sneezing or avoiding peanuts. It’s a serious health condition that affects physical and mental wellbeing. Our research shows that the mental toll of living with allergy is profound. A third of all enquiries to our Helpline were related to mental health and wellbeing, nearly triple the previous year.

From the anxiety of food allergies to the isolation caused by skin and respiratory conditions, the emotional burden is real and often invisible. Yet, only 6% of those who feel they need mental health support are able to access it.

This January, let’s all resolve to be more allergy-aware. Whether you live with allergy or know someone who does, start a conversation. Ask how they’re coping. Tell them about our website – www.allergyuk.org.

Let’s make 2026 the year we bring allergy out of the shadows and into the conversation.

Simone Miles

Chief executive, Allergy UK

Dear Editor,

Most people now accept taxing wealth is necessary. Campaigners like Gary Stevenson, Richard Murphy, and recently Zack Polanski have spent years pushing the issue into the mainstream. Meanwhile, rising inequality leaves millions struggling to stay housed, fed and warm. In the UK, the wealthiest one per cent of families own more than the bottom 50 per cent. That’s plain wrong!

Anyone who searches “tax avoidance” online can see how the wealthy legally avoid tax. Paying little or none is considered normal - by shifting profits to low-tax places, taking income as shares rather than salary, and the “buy, borrow, die” model, where rising asset values are never taxed and are passed on at death without capital gains liability. This behaviour is widespread and amounts to legalised fraud.

The problem has been identified for years, yet little has been done. Is that because wealthy people resist what doesn’t benefit them? The Green Party proposes a modest wealth tax: one per cent on wealth above £10-million and two per cent above £1-billion, raising an estimated £15-billion a year. Patriotic Millionaires argue for two per cent above £10-million, raising around £22-billion. To the very wealthy this is small change, yet they fight it fiercely.

Richard Murphy argues that faster, simpler measures could raise far more. His Taxing Wealth Report 2024 sets out reforms raising up to £90-billion annually, including an investment income surcharge similar to National Insurance, which alone could vastly outperform a wealth tax - while also preparing for such a wealth tax if still needed.

2026 could be the year this blatant injustice is tackled. Murphy’s report is a clear roadmap, and I hope campaigners and political leaders align around it.

Dilys Morgan , via email

Dear Editor,

Throughout the year, increasing substantially around “Black Friday” and then in the run up to Christmas, and now in the post Christmas “sale” period, I appear to be bombarded with unwanted emails.

I have decided to “unsubscribe” to the many companies with whom I appear to have given my email address to over the last year.

Since Boxing Day I have scrolled down to the bottom of these emails and I have already unsubscribed to over 20 of them.

I am finding this a truly cathartic experience.

Robin Thomas, via email