The argument is made by some that MPs working in second jobs is a good thing because such professional expertise enriches parliament (Geoffrey Cox missed winter fuel votes while working abroad in second job, 11 October). There is a simple solution. When I was a clinical professor at a UK university, I was allowed to engage in private practice on the condition that I donated all such earnings to my principal employer (the university). I suggest Geoffrey Cox does likewise. Prof Jonathan Rees Edinburgh Joy Webb misses the point when she complains about food waste at Halloween (Letters, 11 October). In order to be used as a decoration, a pumpkin has to be hollowed out. We can’t be the only people eating delicious orangey soups and pies after a hard night’s trick or treating. Julie Carlisle Kintbury, Berkshire What is clearly a nametape, almost certainly a Cash’s nametape, was referred to in your article as a “label” (More clues in 100-year-old Mount Everest mystery as climber’s foot found, 11 October). Surely nametapes are not yet a thing of the past? Helen Simmons Datchet, Berkshire “Ethiopia 0 Guinea 344” (Results, print edition, 16 October)? Surely a record! Then I checked online: the score was 0-3. Glyn Ford Dobcross, Greater Manchester