Imprisonment for public protection sentences were flawed and unjust. Labour should commit to finish them off The harmful effects of imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs) are well documented. For Tommy Nicol and Francis Williams, whose sisters have both spoken to the Guardian about the impact of punishments with no end-date, the pressure was unbearable. Nicol, who was originally jailed for a violent robbery, took his own life during a mental health crisis at the Mount prison in 2015. Williams, also convicted of robbery, died of an overdose in Bognor Regis last year – hours after t ..read more

For years, Rule, Britannia! has had a divisive presence in the festival. It should make way for other anthems of national identity Here we go again: Britannia will continue to rule at the Last Night of the Proms. Unveiling a wide-ranging programme for this year’s festival, Sam Jackson, controller of BBC Radio 3 and also director of the Proms, assured audiences that the jingoistic 18th-century anthem would take its customary place at the climax, despite calls for it to be dropped. A dignified and unhectoring case for standing the song down was made on Desert Island Discs by the cellist Sheku Ka ..read more

Both sides are beset by those who think their words and deeds bring peace closer. Instead they instil fear and make a better future harder to attain Beware the friend who is only trying to help. Not, perhaps, as a rule for life but certainly when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the clashes that battle provokes around the world. So often those who think they’re doing their bit serve only to make an already impossible situation even worse. The week began with an instructive example, when Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, released a video clip of himself bein ..read more

Readers respond to a letter which said that MDMA is not helpful in mental health care Rachel McNulty (Letters, 19 April) is right to emphasise the need for proper funding of integrated mental health care and social support, but wrong to dismiss MDMA based on a single anecdotal case. I can provide a number of counter-anecdotes showing the value of MDMA to mental health, including a friend of mine who has said that it saved him from taking his life in his youth. However, science-based healthcare is not about anecdotes, but systematically gathered evidence and controlled trials. Such trials are a ..read more

When it comes to reconciling bitter enemies, the notion of ‘justice’ has its limitations, writes former judge Sir Konrad Schiemann Eva Ladipo’s article is impressive (My family’s past, and Germany’s, weighs heavily upon me. And it’s why I feel so strongly about Gaza, 19 April). For millennia different people and different groupings have wanted the same thing, which is regarded as desirable by each. Obviously they cannot both have it – unless what they both want is peace. The challenge has been and continues to be, both in Europe and elsewhere in the world, to construct a political order which ..read more

Michael Geraghty suggests joining a campaign to get Defra to increase its funding, and Kathy Squires criticises those who don’t pay enough for their use of canals Your report about increases in licence fees for canal boats neglects to mention why the increase in fees is necessary (Fee hikes will price us out of canals, say houseboaters in England and Wales, 19 April). The Canal & River Trust (CRT) has, from its inception in 2012, received a grant from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help with the finances of running and maintaining more than 2,000 miles of the 200 ..read more

Guardian readers reflect on ultra-marathons and the people who ran – or walked – them Ultra-marathons have a long history (‘No limits’: how the marathon was overtaken in sprint to stretch horizons, 19 April). In 1809 Robert Barclay Allardice walked a thousand miles in a thousand hours on Newmarket Heath, for a bet of a thousand guineas. And then in the 1880s there were the “Wobbles”, six-day indoor races, at the agricultural hall in Islington, ending in a record of 623 miles, which, like the hall, still stands. Finally, there were in 1928 and 1929 CC Pyle’s Trans‑American races on which my nov ..read more

The people who live and work in tourist hotspots such as Florence are engaging and generous, and deserve consideration, writes Stuart Henson Cecilie Hollberg ruffled a few feathers earlier this year, suggesting mass tourism has turned Florence into a “prostitute”, but her piece about the effects of hit-and-run tourism (Opinion, 18 April) is a model of clear thinking and good journalism. By coincidence, it appeared as I returned from Italy, feeling a little guilty about the “thrill-is-gone” sentiments I’d had about the cradle of the Renaissance. When the Judas trees and the wisteria are in flow ..read more

Farrow & Ball colours and namesPatriarchy chickenCaroline Lucas giving up politicsEarly Christmas emails Emma Beddington’s article amused me (Let’s hear it for the true geniuses: the people who name paints, 22 April). My late husband, the decorative painter John Sutcliffe, who died in September 2022, collaborated very closely with Farrow & Ball to help mix the first batch of colours. He also researched and created the names for which the company became so famous, starting the trend that we all know. John even had one of the colours named after him, Sutcliffe Green, No 78, which just ha ..read more

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