Readers respond to an article by John Harris on how the budget has left middle-income families anxious and angry

John Harris’s stimulating article on the “squeezed middle” missed one area of concern for those of us trapped in it ( The ‘squeezed middle’ is back – and this time it could be Labour’s undoing, 30 November ). We knew that even if we’d paid our cheap mortgages off (lucky us), we would either have to downsize or have taken out our own pensions. We knew the state pension would never be enough.

So we did. And if we were lucky, it covered the cracks. Except that when we retired, we were taxed again on our pensions, having already been taxed on the funds we used to take them out in the first place.

A photographer’s legacy | Getting in the Christmas spirit | Crossword cat | New dictionary entry | Peace prize for Putin

Martin Parr’s photographs are full of wry humour and an affection for the quirkiness of life ( Martin Parr, photographer acclaimed for observations of British life, dies aged 73, 7 December ). He encouraged ordinary people to observe and celebrate the world around us. A few years ago, I had two photographs published on the Guardian’s letters pages, something that would never have happened to me in a million years had I not been inspired by Martin.
Toby Wood
Peterborough

• I enjoyed the article on getting into the Christmas spirit ( 2 December ). Please can Joel Snape provide a list of the 31 festive films he watches in December? For me, the festive feeling starts when I add the first house to my Marks & Spencer advent village bought in 1998 – and getting out my festive tea towels.
Cathy I’Anson
London

The answer to today’s engineering challenge

Earlier today I asked you to reinvent a component of the sixteenth century Dutch sawmill, which – according to a new book – was the world’s first industrial machine. You can read that post here, along with some great BTL discussion about the world’s greatest inventions. (Spoon or spear? Plough or spectacles? Transistor or trousers?)

Round and up

The minimum bet rule model is there in Australia for all to see and the Gambling Commission should act now

Racing enjoyed its biggest win for many years in last month’s budget. The threatened harmonisation of duty rates for betting and gaming was not simply seen off, but routed, with the differential between the two rates significantly increased. As an added bonus, meanwhile, racing was excluded from the small rise in the duty rate for bets on football and other sporting events.

Having celebrated the win, though, the next step is to ensure that the benefits are maximised. And since, in relative terms, racing has just become a more attractive product for bookmakers, what better moment could there be to address one of the major obstacles that many punters face when they want to bet on the horses?

The proposed acquisition would see yet more of Hollywood controlled by a tech company and one that doesn’t seem to care about the theatrical experience

Did Netflix just exacerbate a bunch of seasonal affective disorders in cinephiles? Timed to ruin holidays like a round of end-of-year layoffs, the streaming giant announced plans to buy Warner Bros, a movie and television studio with a full-century legacy. It’s possible that the acquisition won’t actually go through – and if it does, it won’t be for at least a year. But the news still looms over year-end awards and list-making, and it’s going to take more than a jingle-bell heist to steal back any holiday cheer for the entertainment industry, much less halt the march of corporate consolidation and monopolization. Even more depressing: the entity that seems most able to take action against this is … another attempted consolidation. Paramount has launched a bid for a hostile takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, which would bring two big studios under one extremely Trump-friendly umbrella. This would almost certainly further cull the number of wide-release movies released each year.

Depression might not seem like a rational response, especially for anyone who doesn’t actually work in said industry. (There are plenty of reasons that various unions are making their opposition to either sale known .) Yet the news last week had hundreds of film fans posting eulogies and defenses not just of Warner Bros as a studio – which on its own includes a vast history encompassing classics like Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Departed, Bonnie and Clyde, The Searchers, and The Matrix, among hundreds – but the very fabric of theatrical moviegoing.

Receiver of wrecks says finds of perishables do not have to be flagged, but council asks for space for clean-up operation

It isn’t quite Whisky Galore ! – the classic British film in which residents of a Scottish island attempt to pilfer 50,000 cases of spirit from a shipwreck.

Rather than the prospect of finding a warming dram or two, people on the south coast of England have been coming across bunches of bananas after containers fell off the back of a ship and washed up on beaches in West Sussex.

Settlement also includes major changes to how church identifies and discloses past claims of abuse by clergy

After more than five years of litigation, a federal bankruptcy judge has approved the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans’ proposal to pay $230m to roughly 600 survivors of sexual abuse by the church’s priests, deacons and other personnel.

Judge Meredith Grabill on Monday confirmed the settlement, which also includes major changes to how the church identifies and discloses past claims of sexual abuse by clergy and protects children and vulnerable adults going forward.

• Fly-half labels change a ‘backward step’ for sport

• ‘Unfortunately I think it’s changed how everybody plays’

The Gloucester fly-half Ross Byrne believes international head coaches could convert second-rows into wings for the next men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027 to capitalise on the crackdown on escort defenders.

Last October World Rugby instructed referees to scrutinise and punish defending teams obstructing opponents chasing high contestable kicks, a move that has had a profound tactical impact on the elite game.

Defense secretary’s comments recirculating amid dispute over US strikes on alleged drug boats in Caribbean

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, stated repeatedly in 2016 on Fox News that US service members should refuse “unlawful” orders from a potential president Trump – exactly the position he called “ despicable ” when Democratic lawmakers said it last month.

The debate about whether US soldiers should refuse illegal orders is now at the center of a fiery political dispute over the US killings of alleged drug traffickers in boats off the coast of Venezuela and Columbia.