To offer some small credit to Royal Mail, Olaudah Equiano did feature on a first-class stamp as part of the Abolition of the Slave Trade series in 2007, which also included a 72p stamp for the great Ignatius Sancho (Opinion, 28 October). That the same series also included four stamps of white people tends to confirm the point that black figures have been poorly represented. Graeme Cottam London I reread your article (Seaweed was common food in Europe for thousands of years, researchers find, 17 October), because I thought I must have missed it – a mention of bara lawr (laverbread). Seaweed never “fell off the menu” in Wales – it’s still there to this day. Very tasty, too. Helen Moelzl Tuntenhausen, Bavaria, Germany Earlier this week we received a letter from HSBC asking: “Could your money be making you more?” Should that have been “making us more” (Higher interest rates help HSBC to more than double profits, 30 October)? Elaine Steane Oxford One of the less surprising reasons why so many people aged over 65 are still working (Pass notes, 30 October) is that the retirement age to qualify for a state pension is actually 66. It will be 67 in 2026. Sheila Hutchins Tregony, Cornwall Bernie Evans will not vote for Labour, implying he would prefer another five years of Tory (mis)rule to a Labour government (Letters, 31 October). A saying involving noses and faces comes to mind. Jennifer Jenkins London