Give us all a share of Rolls-Royce’s profits | Brief letters

Government should invest, not subsidise | Size matters | ‘Ferritin face’ | Train announcements | Reform UK’s newspaper

Rather than give Rolls-Royce a £1.25bn subsidy to develop the next-generation narrow-body jet airliner programme ( Nils Pratley on finance, 29 October ), would it not be more advantageous to the Treasury, and thus the taxpayer, me included, to invest £1.25bn in shares in the company? That way, we all get a share of the prospective profits, and in the long run pay lower taxes. Patrick Billingham Brighton, East Sussex

You say the Rothbury estate covers “an area the size of Athens” ( Wildlife Trusts hit £30m target to buy and rewild huge Northumberland estate, 30 October ). When did you move to measuring land area in terms of the Greek capital rather than the traditional British measures of Greater Londons or Wales (or parts thereof)? John Hubbard Chislehurst, Kent

The classic publication on iron deficiency and the eyes ( ‘Ferritin face’: are social media claims about iron deficiency fact – or fiction?, 28 October ) is the 1986 Lancet paper by L Kalra and others . This showed that a blue hue in the whites of the eyes was the most obvious feature of iron deficiency, not pallor or “dark circles”. Adrian Hamlyn Stourbridge, West Midlands

If fines are now going to be issued to people playing music on public transport ( Report, 30 October ), can we hope for similar sanctions for irritating, repetitive announcements on trains? Tessa Say Bentlawnt, Shropshire

Our younger son told us he was very pleased to receive Reform UK’s newspaper ( Report, 29 October ). It came through the letterbox just as he had run out of toilet roll! Paul F Faupel Somersham , Cambridgeshire