Letter: Out of season Christmas cards

Sir: Alan Blumenthal, of Birmingham City Council, is wrong ('Unseasonal greetings from the sunny city of Birmingham', 17 December). The worst Christmas card of the year hails from the Cabinet Office, where I have the honour of working. This portrays Big Ben in the distance behind a row of trees in full foliage, with the sun beating down from a clear blue sky. In the forefront of the picture a mass of red roses is in full bloom.

Birmingham's card has tulips, a sign of spring, a mere three months from Christmas. Surely, a bed of blooming roses suggests a full six months distance from Christmas (either way), and is therefore a clear winner in the inappropriateness stakes.

Yours faithfully,

SIMON LAWTON SMITH

London, N10

18 December