HAVE you tried buying spuds lately? The papers regularly tell us how sweets, biscuits and other produce are being reduced in size and weight “but never in price”.

That may be so but have you ever tried buying small amounts of potatoes in supermarkets (other than when the new potatoes are out)?

Even the smallest prepacked bag is heavy enough to carry home and for a single person they would last weeks and weeks. Likewise all these BOGOF deals (By One Get One Free) are false economy if you end up putting it in the bin.

Why don’t supermarkets cater more for people to buy smaller amounts?

D M Deamer, Penley’s Grove Street, Monkgate,York

Delicious irony of position on Brexit

I WRITE to thank Chris Moncrieff (The Press, October 26) for drawing my attention to the book on how to stop Brexit by Nick Clegg, which I read avidly, though I cannot see myself following many of his prescriptions - least of all joining the Tory party.

I dislike his idea of the UK “not within the inner core of the EU” (page 138), but clearly he is right in thinking this preferable to being “cast out to the political wilderness”.

And what delicious irony in the idea of Sir John Major being recalled to clear up the mess created by his successors.

Robert Stevens, Bootham Crescent, York

Smart way to tell how much power I use

HOW can you tell from a smart meter if power is actually being wasted?

I still maintain that kettles are low usage items and having tried and failed to do the boring maths as Christian Vassie (Letters, November 1) called it, even though he somehow managed to arrive at a figure of up to and over £100 a year for wastage, I realised I would have to physically work it out to prove it.

My 2.4kW kettle, with no other appliances on, boiled a measured litre (enough for four large cups of tea) of cold water, in 2mins 50secs and the meter showed that 0.125 kW (ie, one eighth of a kW) of electricity had been consumed. A kW of electricity costs about 12p. An eighth of 12p is 1.5p.

I have no idea of the average number of times a kettle would be boiled in a day for tea or whatever, say six, which gives 6 x 1.5p = 9p per day.

Hardly the high usage item that Mr Vassie claims, although I suspect his idea of usage is different to mine!

Mike Harrison, Nether Poppleton, York

Collection of car data so like Big Brother

YOUR article on the use of mobile data (Traffic Lights talk to cars, October 28) brought to mind the extract I read recently by the renowned clairvoyant Kansee Tumoro, in which he foresees a country where the government, having run out of income from fuel duty because everyone has ‘gone electric’, has resorted to toll charging enabled by the use of mobile data.

Every vehicle on the road is equipped with its own phone, so to speak, so its whereabouts at any time is known.

Tolls are charged depending on the road used, the type of vehicle and the time of day different tariffs apply.

Private cars incur more charge than commercial vehicles which incur more charge than buses. He makes no mention of bicycles.

The vehicle owner is charged monthly for road usage and, naturally, there is a discount for those who pay by direct debit.

Statements are made available online. Parking charges are included automatically, as are speeding fines (yes, they know how fast you go!).

The result, it would seem, is a significant increase in the use of public transport.

Personally I find the ‘Big Brother’ implications of such a concept somewhat alarming.

Glyn Sunman, Woodthorpe, York

Please go and see this brilliant Barnum

IF you ever wondered what some of the youth of today were capable of doing PLEASE visit the Rowntree Theatre before November 11 to see the York Youth Theatre Group performing Barnum.

It was full of vigour and vitality and expertise and left us all feeling exhausted by the brilliance of the players.

Barbara Saville, Askham Bryan