The arguments for and against homeopathy

Sir, Humanity has been aware for millennia that there is a non-physical, as well as a physical component to life on earth. The two are intertwined and can affect each other. Homeopathy operates through the non-physical aspect to effect change in the physical body.

Much of present science looks only at the physical, which can be measured. The non-physical cannot be measured, so is deemed not to exist. This results in research protocols to evaluate homeopathy, and some other complementary therapies, being based on inappropriate basic assumptions and so “proving” ineffectiveness. The problem is that homeopathy does not make money for “Big Pharma” so must be denigrated on principle.
Roy Procter
Somerton, Somerset

Sir, Maybe a less dogmatic attitude to homeopathy would be helpful. It does seem clear that homeopathic remedies are not suitable for assessment by current scientific testing. Nevertheless, many people find homeopathy effective. I believe arnica is often used by athletes.

A further question is about accommodating appropriate alternative therapies to take the pressure off the mainstream medical system and the pharmaceutical industry. Interestingly, basic homeopathic remedies are widely available in French pharmacies and, in my experience, the chemist may be able to advise you.
Victoria Manthorpe
Norwich

Sir, The apparent contradiction between homeopathy being scientifically proven to be worthless and many people claiming that it improves their health is probably because homeopathy acts in the same way as a placebo. So let’s find economic ways for doctors to prescribe placebos when they consider them appropriate.
Ian McGrath
Blashford, Hants

Sir, Surely a homeopathic cure could be kept as an option. If someone calls their GP and asks for an appointment, the receptionist can ask if the caller would prefer to be prescribed a homeopathic cure. If the caller answers in the affirmative, the receptionist should be able to tell the caller to save travel time and expense by drinking a small glass of tap water. If the caller believes that the ailment is more serious, the instruction should be to drink a large glass of tap water.
David Coombs
Cheltenham, Gloucs

BISHOP GEORGE BELL
Sir, As former Chichester Cathedral choristers and Prebendal School pupils in the late 1940s and 1950s, we protested in 2015 at the defamation of Bishop George Bell implicit in the church’s response to the claim by a woman around the same age as us that she had been sexually abused by him when very young (“Justice for Bell”, letters, Jan 19). We are delighted at the conclusions of Lord Carlile of Berriew’s report.

We choristers had a fair sense of George Bell as a man whose fundamental integrity we saw, and throughout our life have continued to value. Our doubts about the claims reflected the strong impression he made, and also the fact that we, alas, had some real experience of what a paedophile could be: a master was relieved of his post and replaced without police involvement when one of us went with his parents to tell the dean what had been happening. We have never accepted that “Carol” identified Bishop Bell rightly as her abuser.

The church now has a responsibility to restore Bishop Bell to his deserved and special place in its life. He remains a saintly figure for those who knew him in the way we did, or have studied his record. Bishop Bell spoke out bravely and worked tirelessly.

He called the 1943 bombing of civilians in Hamburg an unjustifiable act of war. He was the closest foreign friend and supporter of the 1944 Lutheran martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He helped to found the World Council of Churches in 1948. He welcomed to his bishop’s palace Jewish refugee families from Nazi persecution.

It is surprising that Archbishop Welby and various bishops seem no longer to recognise why this great, clear-sighted man has been treated as an Anglican saint with prayers for his own day of remembrance in the calendar. Holding their offices, they surely should.
Tom Sutcliffe, Roger Davis, Stewart Kershaw, Grevile Bridge, Roger Manser, Peter Watts, Roger Gooding, Tony Plumridge, Peter Hamel-Cooke, Francis Sutcliffe

TAPESTRY SWAP
Sir, Why not send the Great Tapestry of Scotland in response to the loan of its counterpart from Bayeux? This would remind the French that their old ally, unconquered by the Normans, voted decisively to remain part of the European Union.
John Coutts
Stirling

MUSEUM CHARGES
Sir, Further to Richard Morrison’s article “Let’s follow New York and charge for our museums and galleries” (Jan 12, and letter, Jan 15), British museums already do charge — for their special exhibitions, often containing items from their permanent collections. So when comparing free entry into the British Museum with the forthcoming $25 charge to the Metropolitan Museum in New York one needs to remember that their general entry also includes a viewing of their special shows. Currently these include the Hockney retrospective (charged for at the Tate in London) and the truly exceptional Michelangelo drawings exhibition.

And, just to square the circle and make any firm conclusion difficult, one of the undoubted stars of that Metropolitan’s Michelangelo show is the heart-stopping portrait of Andrea Quaratesi. This is one of the many treasures loaned to the show from the BM and which can normally be viewed, on request, in the spectacular surroundings of the Study Room in the Department of Prints and Drawings. And for setting up this one-on-one interaction with a truly exceptional masterpiece there would, of course, be no charge.
Hamish Parker
London W6

MARXIST STUDENTS
Sir, I have some sympathy with the students who think Marxism is the answer to the scourge of capitalism (“Angry students turn to Marx in their pursuit of revolution”, News, Jan 20). I was a student in the 1950s and fervently embraced equality for all. My parents were subjected to rants about bourgeois complacency by their green-haired daughter and wondered what would become of me. I graduated, got a job and grew up.

The students of today condemn the inequalities of capitalism, but I would suggest that, having grown up in our capitalist but free society, they spend at least a year living in a country governed by Marxists, perhaps Cuba, Venezuela or North Korea. Then they could take a balanced view on which society would suit them best, and stay in the country of their choice.
Sue Rigg
Porlock, Somerset

THE BEER GAP
Sir, Matthew Parris is right about the widening gap in life expectancy (“Social mobility is creating dustbin Britain”, Comment, Jan 20): many factors may combine to produce a single effect. However, I’d have thought the reason for ever-increasing longevity in London was clear. It costs so much to buy a pint there that a more abstemious — and, therefore, healthier — lifestyle is inevitable.
David Goddard
Dorchester, Dorset

WHAT IS FAKE NEWS?
Sir, You report that the prime minister is to authorise official blocking of “fake news” on the internet (“Whitehall’s online rapid response unit will block fake news”, Jan 20). It is hard to believe that any government concerned for freedom of information and discussion could even consider such an idea.

Someone in Whitehall has lost all sense of what a free society is about if they think a government should interfere in determining what is true or false online. Have they never read 1984? Aside from the political madness of such an idea, that they can determine what is false and manipulate it, the technical problem of deciding what online material is true or false has been the subject of extensive research, and there exists no system that could be reliably used to make such a determination, even if it were desirable.
Yorick Wilks
Professor of Artificial Intelligence
University of Sheffield

CHANNEL BRIDGE
Sir, Further to your recent reports, a Channel bridge is not as fanciful as it first appears. An early design suggested linked floating platforms. This technology was successfully tried in the 1980s by the Hutton Tension Leg Platform in the North Sea. It is now an established technology. The bridge sections can be built onshore and then floated into location, an ideal system for busy shipping lanes.
Andy Cole
Cleethorpes, Lincs

MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
Sir, John Davies-Humphries writes that the “playing-field” is tilted against the NHS as regards medical negligence (letter, Jan 20). I beg to differ: the NHS Litigation Authority has vast resources at its disposal, including leading independent medical experts and leading barristers. Legal aid is rarely available to alleged victims of clinical negligence. Claimants are represented by solicitors and barristers who have to take cases on a no-win, no-fee basis. Recently I fought a case for four days and lost, leaving the court with my pockets empty. Neither my unfortunate client nor the NHS had to pay me a penny.
Peter Buckley
Manchester

VANITY UNFAIR
Sir, Jenni Russell may be right that social media induces in us a state of envy at everyone else’s “perfect” lives (“Green-eyed monster is destroying our lives”, Comment, Jan 18). However, the deadly sin I see most is vanity, particularly among young women posting endless selfies. And they all seem to end up looking the same. I yearn for an old-fashioned Maggie Smith-type to tell them: “It’s not all about you, dear.”
Clare Heaton
Caterham, Surrey

THE ‘YOUTH’ VOTE
Sir, In view of your report on a study in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal, “Adolescence stretches to 24 as growing up slows down” (News, Jan 20), is it now time to raise the voting age to 25?
Mike Lewtas
Twickenham

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