A touch of class in Middlesbrough accents | Brief letters

Covid-19 tests | Birdsong | Middlesbrough variations | Ministerial grammar | War metaphorsWe arrived back at Heathrow from New Zealand last week, on flights from Auckland. We exited the airport with no checks or testing. Can someone please explain how this reduces the spread of Covid-19? All arrivals in New Zealand are quarantined in hotels for 14 days at the government's expense. What price Mr Hancock's 100,000 tests at the end of April?Martin HesseLondono In the West Midlands, as elsewhere (Country diary, 20 April), the volume of the birdsong is so much more noticeable lately. Here, in fact, it is sometimes possible to discern what they are saying. I heard one robin this morning evoking its ancient saurian ancestry and saying to the world: "We're nearly there. See what a mess the humans have made of it all. Time for us to take back control."Nigel GannLichfield, Staffordshire Continue reading...