Real civilisation

SIR – Many years ago some school friends and I debated light-heartedly what were the signs that a country was civilised.

Some things we took for granted – democracy, low crime rate and a good road system. We ended up with two criteria: free public libraries and free public toilets.

In light of the closure of many public toilets, threats to public libraries and the recent spate of potholes, I’m afraid that the United Kingdom would now fail our test. Steve Webb

Southwell, Nottinghamshire