YP Letters: There's no need to fear dining alone in later life

Rachel Reeves MP os co-chair of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness.

I FIND it almost incredible that “Yorkshire’s elderly are skipping meals to avoid eating alone” (The Yorkshire Post, November 17).

I have no sympathy for Tony Walton who lives on soup and sandwiches now that he lives alone. Ready-made frozen meals can be obtained from about £1 in supermarkets.

Nor should he be embarrassed to book a meal for one in a pub: the manager would rather have his business than save a table for a couple who may or may not show up.

My wife and I are close to our diamond wedding: I love pubs but she hates them so it suits us both for me to slip out for a drink.

No need to feel embarrassed: other customers are not interested in the old bloke  in the comer enjoying a lone  pint.

Nor would dining alone bother me. Yes, but you have someone to go home to, I hear you say.

Well, like my wife, I dread bereavement but solitude per se holds no fears for us; just that our dear soulmate is no more. Oh, and, unlike your tweeter, I can’t really cook but, thanks to the microwave, I could rustle up a proper meal in 10 minutes.