But Andrew Brown's thesis, by which he strangely combines suggestions of Catholic triumphalism with "A Catholic civil war" is tenuous. The action proposed should not be embarked upon lightly and certainly not unilaterally and precipitately.Sir Sigmund SternbergThe Sternberg Centrefor JudaismLondon N3. We are entitled to be told why the BBC treated senior religious leaders like "third rate actors who have outlived their sell-by date" - to quote the Bishop of Oxford's spokesman. In a society increasingly facing a moral decline there is a need for greater emphasis on religious values rather than the reverse Indignant voices have been raised opposing the BBC decision They should be listened to carefully. The other lived in Pinner, worried about the state of its lawn, sat about in doctors' waiting-rooms demanding relief from the 'flu and was anxious about practically everything.It is very hard to reconcile these two utterly different nations. This week, a large section of the Scottish countryside has been in a state of alarm about an escaped pig. Roadblocks were set up, armed policemen roamed the perimeters of lonely copses and burly men scanned the streets anxiously before emerging from their front doors.

It is true that the pig in question is a large-ish, bristly, tusked wild boar, on the run from a special wild boar farm and therefore (given his unfamiliarity with the terrain) liable to some rather erratic behaviour. But does it really need half the constabulary of the Lowlands to give up catching burglars and smugglers to devote their time and energy to penning the pig? These efforts have been in vain, incidentally, for after the police had made a spectacle of themselves, it was decided to lure the animal out of his arboreal hiding-place by tethering an attractive wild sow at a strategic point Sex might win where brute force usually fails. I have, like many others, always found the programme interesting and highly topical. There is a limit to what can be said in three minutes but contributors like Rabbi Lionel Blue have found it possible to fill the slot with distinction over a lengthy period. Sir: I do not agree with Andrew Brown concerning Thought for the Day (Faith & Reason, 11 May). In order to overcome a somewhat cooler winter, and to keep tourists smiling, the authoritarian mayor of Marbella has instructed city maintenance workers to increase the settings of temperature displays (found on all main thoroughfares here), so that they read three degrees centigrade higher than reality. Folge DoeMarbella.

Sir: John Major should take a holiday on the Costa del Sol, because the feel-good factor has been definitely resolved here. Miss Alice Grigg, of Belvedere in Kent, who died in 1970 aged about 107, was believed to be the last person in this country with a father born in the 18th century. Her father had been born in 1799, giving a span of 171 years.Henry ButtonCambridge. Spanning the centuries Sir: Paul Christison Edwards's great-aunt, Alison Graham, now aged 95, had a father who was born in 1828 (letter, 14 May) This gives a span of 168 years. If Mrs Graham can hang on for a while she may create a new British record.Lady Ethelreda Caroline Wickham, who died in 1961 at the age of 97, was the youngest daughter of the 10th Marquess of Huntly, who had been born in 1792 This gives a span of 169 years.