The Coalition Government has now confirmed the worst, declares Penny Little in your letters pages.

My immediate thoughts were: is the proposed round of spending cuts even more savage than feared? Perhaps ministers will commit more resources to the war in Afghanistan? Maybe a new terrorist plot has been uncovered?

No. It turns out that the gravest issue this country faces is that badgers might be culled to curb TB.

Don’t worry, Pen. You may find that with the economy down the spout, Defra won’t be able to afford to give Brock both barrels after all.

JAMES WESTERHOUSE, Oxford