Repel all boarders
From Mr E. S. Turner Sir: Andrew Roberts's protest against estate agents' boards (Diary, 21 June) is timely. Like the unnamed historian he mentions, I too have felled many of these in my day, especially bogus 'sold' signs. Why the progress of a commonplace transaction like the sale of a house has to be conducted in public, in the form of eyesore advertisements displayed for months on end, I have never understood. Funeral directors do not fill the cemeteries with 'buried by' boards; travel agents do not plant advertisements in our gardens boasting that they have sold world cruises on our behalf.
The regulations supposedly controlling estate agents' boards are everywhere flouted. We cannot just leave these people to pull down each other's boards, though that certainly helps. Time for a total ban?
E.S. Turner Richmond, Surrey From Mr Michael Kaltenbach Sir: Andrew Roberts says that the Tories have not yet promised to decriminalise hunting once it has been abolished. But the Tories have repeatedly promised to legalise hunting again, if it is banned.
Moreover, we do not yet know whether hunting will be abolished. The Lords could throw out the Commons legislation and it is unclear whether the government will be prepared to use the Parliament Act to override their lordships.
Incidentally, it is up to people like Mr Roberts and me to hold the Tories to their pledge.
Michael Kaltenbach Mildenhall, Wiltshire
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