Staying home for marriage
Sir: ‘Find me a person who stopped voting Conservative last week because of David Cameron’s vague, half-arsed, lacklustre stance on gay marriage. Go on. I dare you… I’ll settle for just one of them instead…Anyone?’ (Hugo Rifkind, 12 May). Well, there’s me for a start: for the first time ever (I have voted at every election since I was old enough, and I am now over 70) I spoiled my ballot paper for this reason; and I’m not the only one who thinks that the preservation of marriage as normally understood (one man and one woman) is of fundamental importance to our society. The Coalition for Marriage petition now has over half a million signatures, making it one of the largest-ever online petitions.
William Oddie
By email
Women on radio
Sir: Melanie McDonagh (‘The Right to Squeak’, 12 May) says that having a feminine voice is a real disadvantage in broadcasting.

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