An MP’s first duty
Sir: Toby Young writes (Status anxiety, 29 October) that Zac Goldsmith’s decision to campaign for Leave in the referendum was an example of his integrity, because ‘anything else would have been a betrayal of his long-standing Eurosceptism as well as his father’s memory’. Goldsmith’s loyalty should have been to his constituents, not his deceased father.
Ian Payn
London SW6
Standing or sitting
Sir: Can I suggest that a sitting MP who resigns their seat in the middle of a Parliament is prohibited from standing in the subsequent by-election? As a taxpayer, I resent having to pay the bill for multimillionaire Zac Goldsmith’s self-indulgent posturing.
Dr Louis Savage
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Cake stand
Sir: I agree with Hugo Rifkind (‘Free speech and the right not to bake a cake’, 29 October) that it is ridiculous to go to court over the baking or not baking of a cake.

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