Readers respond to Guardian analysis on how the arts sector is still a barrier for working-class people

Your article (Working-class creatives don’t stand a chance in UK today, leading artists warn, 21 February) suggests that the higher percentage of privately educated people in leadership roles in the arts is due to a “rigged system” that shuts out working-class people, yet, despite highlighting the fall in students taking arts and humanities subjects, it fails to draw the obvious conclusion.

When provision of arts tuition in the state sector has almost disappeared, young people who are unable to pay for private tuition and whose schools don’t have art or drama departments are hugely disadvantaged from the outset if they wish for a career in the arts. How can children explore and gain confidence in their creative potential if they can’t test it in an art department, music room or on an assembly hall stage?

Dr Nicholas Russell responds to a review by Edward Posnett and reflects on the pioneering work of his father and his business partner, Peter Hobbs

I was pleased to read Edward Posnett’s review (19 February) of Tim Minshall’s Your Life Is Manufactured . Little attention is currently paid to manufacturing, perhaps because it comprises only 8% of British GDP.

The opening of the review focuses on the domestic kettle, Posnett emphasising that the “tocks” of automatic kettles switching off are as significant for us as the nightingale’s song was for John Keats. But despite this cultural significance, no electric kettles are made in Britain now.

Internet calling service that disrupted landline industry to close in May as tech giant says it will focus on Teams

Skype will ring for the last time on 5 May as owner Microsoft retires the two-decade-old internet calling service that redefined how people connect across borders.

Shutting down Skype will help Microsoft focus on its homegrown Teams service by simplifying its communication offerings, the office software giant said on Friday.

Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their spring encounters with nature

Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14.

The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a field of early spring flowers, a nest-building bird or a pond full of frogspawn.