Your article (James Corden delays start of play to let audience watch Euros penalty shootout, 7 July) reminded me of being at a Bob Dylan concert in Liverpool that coincided with the Euro 96 semi-final between England and Germany. Before the concert, almost the entire audience was in the theatre bar watching extra time playing out on TV. Just as the penalty shootout was about to start, Bob’s band started up, and we were herded into the auditorium. After a couple of songs came a plaintive cry from the theatre circle: “What’s the score, Bob?” Graham Bellinger Chester England’s magnificent men’s football team has conclusively demonstrated that multiculturalism really does work (Southgate has been questioned and insulted, but it’s England in the final, 10 July). Maureen Henry Glasgow I trust that the poet laureate, Simon Armitage, will write something to celebrate England reaching the Euro 2024 final. Football’s punning tome. Toby Wood Peterborough Yet again, the country diary appears as a metaphor of current politics (11 July). The steaming muck heap took me to the previous administration, and then, for the addition of bokashi to turn the rotting manure into healthy bacteria, read Sir Keir Starmer. Dr Mark Wilcox New Mill, West Yorkshire It should be compulsory for every new MP to spend a day travelling around their constituency by bus. Elizabeth Baker Birmingham