Letter: Smoke of battle

Sir: If, as we are told, donations to political parties are never made in order to influence political decisions but are merely indicative of the donor's support for at least some of the recipient's policies, there seems to be a simple way out of the dilemma. The state should set up an independent body, through which, by law, all political donations would be channelled. The money would be passed to the recipient without any indication of its source.

MICHAEL GREEN

Birmingham