Some retailers, annoyed at the restricted Sunday opening hours on Boxing Day, intend to open for up to 14 hours today, to “claw back” lost sales (Report, 24 December). Before Christmas, many staff will have struggled home in the snow after working very late with extended opening hours. There always used to be at least two days allowed for a Christmas break. How can shop staff really enjoy Christmas Day, if they have to be up at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day? It’s now all about taking money for large international companies. Let’s have Christmas again, please.

Barry Carroll

London

• It’s ironic that a Conservative transport secretary should be calling for airports that have failed to prepare adequately to avoid winter disruption to be fined (Heathrow admits chaos, 21 December). After all, it was Margaret Thatcher’s government that privatised the BAA airports without including proper safeguards to ensure that specified minimum operating standards would be met. Then as now, the Conservatives’ blind faith renders them incapable of accepting that the private-sector managements tend to ignore the need for comprehensive long-term planning and investment lest it compromise the next quarter’s financial results and their bonus payments. Only the prospect of punitive damages will focus the minds of Heathrow’s management.

Charles Alcock

Farnham, Surrey

• Thousands of people feel understandably aggrieved and inconvenienced by their treatment at the hands of various transport bodies. The financial consequences for many will be severe. Many trapped travellers will have been on their phones trying to reach operators for information. They will have been forced in most cases to use expensive premium numbers and frequently held on the line for ages. They will count the high cost when their bills arrive in the new year. Far too many companies – and sadly many government agencies – oblige people needing help to use expensive phone numbers. Surely it is time for such organisations to recognise that they shouldn’t fleece their customers when things go wrong and use geographical numbers which are part of the free minutes packages on mobiles.

Dave Anderson MP

Lab, Blaydon

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