Archie Bland notes the declining circulation of the Sun and the Times (Winning the Times and the Sun won’t decide the next election – but Starmer’s Labor can’t kick the habit April 2). But newspaper displays in supermarkets and motorway service areas serve as billboards. Thousands of non-buyers still see the screaming tabloid headlines every day. Whether they are affected will be an interesting research topic.
Martin Lewis
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Incentives to donate to charities already exist (Letters, April 2). Tax relief at the donor’s top rate of up to 45% is given for every pound donated. Rather, we need incentives for the government to close the loopholes that allow the very wealthy to treat income tax as optional.
Dr Margaret Coombe
London
And now a maths question for your correspondent who argues that University Challenge favors Oxbridge participants (Letters, April 2). How many more students are there in Imperial College London than in Trinity College, Cambridge? Answer: 20,000.
Martin Datta
Lincoln
Descartes must have enjoyed your long read (The new science of death: ‘There’s something going on in the brain that makes no sense’, 2 April). Late support for mind-body dualism and the ghost in the machine.
Steven Dorner
London
Perhaps the nation could benefit if, during the general election campaign, politicians did not speak before noon (Speech fasting: would staying silent until noon make us happier and healthier?, 2 April). It might help us to enjoy our breakfast in peace.
Paresh Motla
Thame, Oxfordshire
