Your article featuring the Ferret Fact Service took me back to the 1970s, when I was working in the University of Essex library (Ruth Davidson's schoolchildren illiteracy claim is ... false, The fight against fake news, May 14). Margaret Thatcher had just become Prime Minister, and a great black pall of gloom had descended on the campus. Coincidentally a student came in to request a book which was on short-term loan only, because it was in high demand. The first thing she said was: "Title of book – where will I find that?"

"Try the spine," I said. Then she exclaimed: "Signature, what on earth does that mean?" I could only snap: "Write your name."

This was at the height of the Thatcher era, and it looks horribly as though not much has improved since then, so I do think Rude Davidson would be well advised to drop this particular theme in her champagne.

Margaret Sutherland

Stirling

The recent furore over Theresa May’s comments about “boy jobs and girl jobs” misses one very important point (Voices of the week, May 14). What she said was: “There’s boy jobs and girl jobs, you see.” What she should have said was: “There are boy jobs and girl jobs, you see.”

Given the current controversy over literary standards in Scottish schools, it’s disappointing that Ruth Davidson’s boss, with her Grammar School and Oxford education, isn’t sure about singular and plural.

Douglas Morton

Lanark