In a stew about reaching peak fig

The announcement from Germany (Alexei Navalny novichok finding prompts calls for answers from Moscow, 3 September) leaves the west flailing about, unable to decide how to retaliate. This is the perfect time for the government to immediately remove the Russian oligarchs who live here. Or will their generosity to the Tory party make that unlikely?
Yvonne Singer
Bollington, Cheshire

• Tom Hunt’s recipe for a fig glut (29 August) came too late for me – peak fig arrived a couple of weeks ago. I’ve made fig jam, fig chutney, figs in ginger, dried figs and plain stewed figs. The other problem with his recipe was that it used only six figs – I’ve had a couple of hundred from my Brown Turkey tree (and that’s after the blackbirds took their tithe).
Richard Ives
Kettlestone, Norfolk

• A couple of further ideas on avoiding the theft of your bike (Letters, 2 September). First, attach a child saddle to the crossbar. It’s not cool – but that’s the point. I kept it in place for at least three years after my youngest had outgrown it. And chain the bike to railings at a busy junction or pedestrian crossing.
Steve Lorber
London

• Reading about Will O’Shea (Cummings recruit sacked after suggesting police use ‘live rounds’ on BLM protesters, 2 September), I was reminded of the old saying, “In Twitter veritas”.
Roger Wilkinson
Leasgill, Cumbria

• The government is in deep trouble – is Tony Abbott the dead cat, er … possum (No 10 urged to revoke trade role for ‘misogynist’ Tony Abbott, 3 September)?
Anna Ford
London