The motorhome that Peter Murrell purchased with funds embezzled from the Scottish National party has sparked a new phrase in political discourse. Following Nicola Sturgeon's bravura performance on BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, where she stated, "I feel as if I'm serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit," one reader wonders how long it will be before the phrase "The elephant in the room" is replaced by "The motorhome on the drive."
Reader Responses
Richard Packer from Bristol notes the shift in language, while Angela Barton from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, adds that Alan Rickman's reading of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native is so captivating that even a weedkiller bottle read by him would be compelling.
Football Fans and Mathematics
Barry Norman from Drighlington, West Yorkshire, recalls his grandfather's quip about Carlisle United: "If they were playing in our front garden I'd close the curtains." Meanwhile, readers engage in a mathematical discussion about the nine times table. Danny Tanzey pointed out that 11 x 9 = 99, but Nova Brockbank from Newcastle upon Tyne explains that 9 + 9 = 18 and 1 + 8 = 9, so the digits still sum to nine.
Edward Collier from Cheltenham adds that for any multiple of nine above 90, repeatedly adding digits always results in nine, a primitive but satisfactory feature of mathematics. Edward Couzens from Chichester provides an example: 9 x 9,999 = 89,991; 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 1 = 36; 3 + 6 = 9.
Readers are invited to share their opinions on any topic covered in the Guardian today by emailing letters for potential publication.
