PETER Russell Letters, July 28) endorses the ban on applause. Going back to the Budget Speech earlier this year, I listened to this on the radio in its entirety. Almost every sentence was greeted by the loud braying of “hear, hear” from George Osborne's supporters. I found this irritating in the extreme.

More important, though, is a point that M. Russell omits, and that is that he is endorsing a custom that allows one section of the House of Commons to dictate the tone for all the others. I do not see how that can be right to do this.

To my way of thinking, sections of the House sound very much like well-oiled members of some kind of upper-class club. One answer is to ask for silence while a member speaks. Failing that, surely it must be accepted that applause is a much-used and perfectly reasonable way of showing approval and that to call up visions of Stalin's Terror is far-fetched. I wholly agree with Mhairi Black and wish her all success in dealing with this unruly racket.

Doug Howkins,

61 Forthill Road,

Broughty Ferry, Dundee.

I WONDER if Peter A Russell is suffering a bout of somnambulism, or perhaps somniloquy, in asserting that “our constitution may be a bit eccentric but while it works there is no need to fix it”.

If he is I suspect his compatriots will ensure a rude awakening sometime soon.

Stuart Chalmers,

3 Summerhill Road, Clarkston, Glasgow.