A thrifty way to redecorate Downing Street

What’s all the fuss about (Keir Starmer ‘gets rid of’ 10 Downing Street’s Thatcher portrait, 29 August)? I’m constantly moving pictures around in my house. It’s a cheaper option to change the look of a room than spending thousands on glitzy wallpaper, as Boris Johnson did. Borrow a lovely Hockney – that would add a bit of colour and fun to that grim study.Jo BurdenMarlow, Buckinghamshire
Rather than just removing her portrait, the Labour government should be removing the toxic legacy of Margaret Thatcher from British politics and society.Phil BrandLondon
Maybe social services are overreacting to Kirstie Allsopp’s decision to let her 15-year-old son travel to Europe without an adult, but what a shame that they were not around in 2015, when a 15-year-old Shamima Begum was flying to Turkey with two school friends (Kirstie Allsopp reported to social services for allowing son, 15, to travel abroad, 25 August).David GerrardHove, East Sussex
I was sorry to see my old alma mater making the headlines for the wrong reasons (Cleaners at prestigious UK girls’ school win dispute over pay and conditions, 29 August). It’s a relief that it has done the right thing now. I went to James Allen’s girls’ school (Jags) on a scholarship, but you don’t need nearly £25,000 of fees to know that I and my peers were not “alumni”.Mary Hoffman (Jags alumna)Witney, Oxfordshire
Having just read Aditya Chakrabortty’s doom-ridden prophecy (If Starmer and Reeves think they have a foolproof strategy – wait until winter comes, 30 August), I consoled myself with the fact that Liz Truss lasted 49 days as PM and that Keir Starmer has clocked up 58 days without trashing the economy. So far, so good.John WilsonHalifax, West Yorkshire