Amazon drones

The article in your edition of 18 May about the revolution in shopping habits as a consequence of Amazon’s dominance of online shopping only told half of the story. Man is a social creature and at a time when people are becoming more obese and the NHS is buckling to cope with the demands made upon it, people are abandoning their High Streets to choose instead to stay at home and have everything delivered to them. What used to be regarded as the norm, namely, people going into their local town centre to browse and take in what the shops had to offer, is declining. A population which was relatively active is now becoming increasingly sedentary. It’s not good for the individual, nor our society that these trends continue. Nor is it good for our High Streets or communities that money that used to be spent locally is now going to a multinational.

While there can be no doubt that we are witnessing a revolution, is it worth the price?

COLIN GREEN Victoria Road, Dumfries I suggest that Mr Campbell reads the Orwell essay. It is primarily directed at, and critical of, English intellectuals, and considers jingoistic Tories, Anglophobia, and the delusion that Scotland could become independent and defend itself unaided, as could Ireland and Wales, because of the creativity and spiritual superiority of the Celts.

HUGH PENNINGTON Carlton Place, Aberdeen