Of Speakers’ wigs and parliamentary standards

SIR – It was not John Bercow who first dispensed with the Speaker’s wig (report, June 30) but Betty Boothroyd.

However, she stated that she did not want to wear it because it would mess up her hair, rather than for any reasons of modernisation, and she made it clear that her successors were welcome to wear it, though neither Michael Martin nor Mr Bercow did.

Incidentally, Betty Boothroyd’s predecessor, Bernard Weatherill, liked the wig – especially as it meant he could pretend not to have heard certain utterances from erstwhile members. Huw Davies

Frimley, Surrey

SIR – I assume that those MPS who choose in the future not to wear a tie in the chamber (Letters, July 1) will instead don a cravat. Dr Bertie Dockerill

Shildon, Co Durham

SIR – Has anyone thought about the risk of open-necked collars showing hairy throats and chests – or do men shave there to avoid this? Margaret Hopkinson-woolley

Bembridge, Isle of Wight SIR – I recall from time spent in Guyana in the Sixties a shirt design called the shirt-jac, which did not need a necktie. This eliminated the untidy appearance which occurs when conventional shirts are worn without a tie. Peter Mckenzie

Morpeth, Northumberland

SIR – During the frequent all-night parliamentary sessions in the Eighties, with a camp-bed in my parliamentary office, I spent the night attired in a one-piece Air Force flight suit.

When a vote was called, however, I always donned my old school tie before entering the Division Lobby. Sir Neville Trotter

Newcastle upon Tyne

SIR – Dr Steven Field (Letters, July 1) insists that “the time should be gone when men must dress more uniformly and uncomfortably than women”.

I’m guessing, from the forename supplied, that the doctor does not, whether through physical necessity or the demands of social convention, wear a bra. Dr Amanda Hopkins

Rugby, Warwickshire