Another Guardian link to the Keira Knightley film The Woman in Cabin 10 | Brief letters

"The Woman in Cabin 10, in which Keira Knightley stars as a Guardian journalist (Report, 10 October), was co-scripted by Joe Shrapnel, grandson of Norman Shrapnel, the legendary Guardian reporter, parliamentary sketch writer and theatre critic. When Norman died in 2004, my father, WL Webb, who as the paper's literary editor regularly employed Shrapnel as a fiction reviewer, described how his ironic edge and sharp eye for social detail made him the much-imitated master of a whole generation of Guardian writers."

"The government plans to require migrants coming to the UK to learn English to an A-level standard (Politics live with Andrew Sparrow, 14 October). How many current UK residents can demonstrate this level? Liz Thompson Oxford Jean Holmes says she was given three copies of Jilly Cooper's How to Stay Married (Letters, 10 October). I wonder if they were secondhand."

The Woman in Cabin 10 was co-scripted by Joe Shrapnel, grandson of Norman Shrapnel, noted as a legendary Guardian reporter, parliamentary sketch writer and theatre critic. WL Webb recalled Norman’s ironic edge and sharp eye for social detail, and his influence on a generation of Guardian writers. The government plans to require migrants arriving in the UK to learn English to an A-level standard, prompting questions about how many current residents meet that level. Jean Holmes reported receiving multiple copies of Jilly Cooper’s How to Stay Married, and readers shared anecdotes about Riders. One letter speculates about Venezuela’s economic future.

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