It is significant that Polly Toynbee (A no to AV hurts Clegg. But a yes whacks the organ grinder, 19 April) now majors not on rational arguments for a flawed system, but on the likability of the two campaigns and the "fantasy politics" of a possible progressive coalition at some point in the future. However, the need to save the NHS is in the here and now. Voting yes to AV will have no beneficial impact in this respect. By contrast, a no vote is not a question of taking revenge on the Lib Dems, but of bringing enough of them to their senses to realise that, without the cushion of AV, the only way to stave off electoral wipeout is to demonstrate their adherence to their erstwhile principles by opposing, among other things, the unmandated NHS reforms.
Dr Anthony Isaacs
London
• I wish to propose a very simple voting system which I believe is better than either the alternative vote (AV) or first past the post (FPTP). Each voter makes one vote for the candidate they find least acceptable. The candidate with fewest votes wins. This is the Perfectly Obvious Theory by which the Least Unacceptable Candidate is Known (POTLUCK).
Patrick Baker
Gloucester
• S&P has downgraded US debt (Report, 19 April)? Isn't this is same agency that saw no reason to downgrade the packaged sub-prime mortgages that ruined a substantial part of all of our savings? I wonder what their agenda is this time.
Kevin Lee
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
• No, Sharman Finlay, you are not alone in being perplexed by the four-syllable word beginning with H (Letters, 19 April). My best guess is a word meaning government by hippopotamus.
Wyn Francis
Goxhill, North Lincolnshire
• Zoe Williams says raising money for charity has to be tied to a sport (Comment, 15 April), but I raised £2.5K by sponsored sonnet-writing in 2009 and am set to raise more this year. Sometimes the pen is mightier than the sore nipple.
Trevor Millum
Barrow on Humber, Lincolnshire
• Cuckoo, 17 April, Reading.
Jane Sutherland
Reading