Brighton & Hove's REGENCY Magazine » Your Letters

Letters: Homeopaths Get Dose Of Real Medicine

REGENCY — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:16:45 +0000

Your recent item about the absurdity that homeopathic preparations can cure illnesses was timely. The Parliamentary Science and Technology Select Committee has been looking at the evidence behind the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s decision to allow homeopathy sugar pill labels to make medical claims without evidence of efficacy, and the funding of homeopathy on the NHS.

In his evidence to the enquiry, Paul Bennet, professional standards director for Boots, told the committee that there was no medical evidence that homeopathic pills and potions work. Mr Bennet did say that there is certainly a consumer demand for these products but there is no evidence to suggest they are efficacious.

For Boots the issue is one of consumer choice seeing that a large number of their customers believe homeopathic products work. Dr James Thallon, medical director at the NHS West Kent primary care trust told the committee of MPs ‘If you prescribe a drug to patients that you know has no efficacy, on a basis which is essentially dishonest with a patient, I personally feel that is unethical”. Dr Thallon went on to say that “We have taken the view about where the balance of the scientific community’s opinion is on homeopathy and, to me and my colleagues, it’s pretty clear.” Thallon cut funding to Tunbridge Wells homeopathic hospital in 2007 after deciding that more proven medications have priority. The NHS spent £12m on homeopathic remedies between 2005 and 2008, money many critics said the health service could not afford.

It seems unbelievable that so many people – including some medical practitioners – will put their trust in scientifically unproven (dare I say, impossible?) products. Surely, as your article implied, evidence on the basis of rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific research is the best criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of any medicinal preparations and treatments.

Dr Chris Hewitson, Chesham Street

Letters: Christmas Cheer

REGENCY — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:14:27 +0000

I just want to say that I really love Regency magazine and always read it cover to cover and want to also thank whoever delivers it to my flat each month and to wish them and all of you a very happy Christmas!

Mrs. Patel, Montpelier Road

Letters: Citizen Power Over Marina Appeal

REGENCY — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:52:22 +0000

Early in November Explore Living’s appeal, to try and overturn Brighton & Hove City Council’s decision to refuse Planning Permission for their development in the Marina, begins at the Brighton Centre.

At the beginning of September a local citizen, Bill Impey, started a petition against the potential loss of the views of our white cliffs, the downland coming down to the sea and the settings of the Listed Regency buildings, should these towers be built. He, and a small group, stood on the pavement collecting signatures from passers-by, both locals and tourist with amazing results. Petition forms were emailed out to a network and REGENCY magazine delivered them in relevant places.

In less than a month many thousands of signatures have been collected and the word spread across the country – even to the USA from where a former resident airmailed a petition form. Forms were posted in from all over the country. We honestly didn’t expect such an overwhelming response.

Several delegates from the Labour Party Conference signed and were amazed that this development had ever been allowed to go forward. They obviously preferred our lovely seafront on a warm sunny lunchtime to the Conference Centre.

All the forms have now been sent to the Inspectorate to meet their deadline and I would like to thank everyone who helped make this important Petition so successful. We hope it will make a difference. Our views are our heritage.

Stella McCrickard
 Lewes Crescent

Letters: Feedback From Last Month’s Feature On Seafront Developments, Written By  Valerie Paynter

REGENCY — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:49:57 +0000

As a local resident and member of Brighton Sailing Club, I cannot but agree with Valerie Paynter’s case against ”i360″ and “Brighton O”. Brighton & Hove City Council has gone on quite long enough with central government’s accent on alcohol-fuelled “cheap and nasty”. It has brought no benefit to the nation at large and certainly not to this city. The process has run its course and councillors should understand that ”i360″ and “Brighton O”, even before they get off the ground, belong to a decaying era whose buzz words like “pro-active” and “joined-up thinking” will soon go the way of T-Rex.

These tacky and meretricious developments, the one resembling a bog-standard pin and the other a rolled-up condom minus the teat, do not even have the merit of being aesthetic. They do not even begin to approximate Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower for looks.

In passing, I should like to wish Stella McCrickard of www.savebrighton.com the best in her fight to conserve our chalk cliffs at the Marina from the commercial intents of Explore Living.

Dr. Yen-Chung Chong 
Ship Street, Brighton

Letters: Gill Mitchell Is A Moaner

REGENCY — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:53:25 +0000

If prizes were issued for hypocrisy, then surely Gill Mitchell, leader of the Labour group of councillors, would win the contest by a mile.

In The Argus (26th August) she has the gall to suggest the seven top officers are each receiving in excess of £100,000. I might agree that these sums do seem somewhat excessive, if it weren’t for the fact that it was the previous Labour administration, in which she held high office, that bumped up the salaries to their present level in the first place.

It seems Mrs. Mitchell is at her happiest when moaning about the present administration, be it the cost of repairing the bandstand here or the state of the seafront railings and Madeira Drive there, conveniently forgetting that her party had more than twenty years in which to arrest this shocking decline.

The dereliction of our city is a direct result of Labour’s dereliction of duty – a dereliction which cost most Labour councillors their jobs at the last elections, and whilst the Tories are not perfect, at least they are restoring some of the city’s pride.

If you can’t say anything positive Gill, please stop talking our city down.

Nigel Furness 
Cambridge Road

Letters: National Readerships

REGENCY — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:51:43 +0000

On clearing my loft I came across an old newspaper cutting which had amused me when it was published in the late 60s and looking at it again I thought that even today it would amuse Regency readers.

It refers to a dinner at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and somebody who makes an after-dinner speech and quotes a copywriter’s notes on the subject of the then newspaper readership profiles.

“The Times is read by the people who run the country. The Guardian is read by the people who would like to run the country. The Financial Times is read by the people who own the country. The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who remember the country as it used to be. The Daily Express is read by the people who think the country is still like that. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the men who run the country. The Daily Mirror (which itself once tried to run the country) is read by the people who think they run the country. The Morning Star is read by the people who would like another country to run the country. The Sun – well, Murdoch has found a gap in the market – the oldest gap in the world”!

In reality much of this is still true today, how extraordinary isn’t it – 40 years later?

Lena Matthews 
via email

Letters: Recycling Heaven

Letters: Public Sector Workers

REGENCY — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:04:21 +0000

Molly of Arundel Terrace wonders about the calibre of people running CityClean (Letters, Issue 12). I can tell you this much, headed by the ghastly Gillian Marston, with their perks and pensions sewn up a treat, these people are not in touch with the real world. Certainly wouldn’t have got through the door of the major private companies where I used to work at senior level.

If the persistent rumour that jobs in the public sector are at risk, all I can say is “bring it on”.

I wrote a personal letter to Gillian Marston on 30th March this year after asking for help and advice from Ian Denyer, the senior highways enforcement officer, when I met him at a recent Neighbourhood Action Group. Needless to say I never even had the courtesy of a reply, which I now understand is par for the course in her case.
Quite frankly I find the incompetence and arrogance of some of the members of this council completely unbelievable since I returned to Brighton 26 years ago, and a direct insult to the “official” figure of 2.4 million who are now without work in this country.

In conclusion we can only hope that those public servants who are unashamedly on the gravy train may soon join their ranks.

Gilly Armstrong
 York Road

Letters: Developments On The Marina

REGENCY — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:01:48 +0000

How many citizens of Brighton and Hove, and the many tourists who visit our seafront, realise that the famous White Cliffs of Dover start right here in Kemp Town?

The views of the cliffs with the South Downs rolling down to the sea are enjoyed by motorists, bus passengers, cyclists and walkers who travel along the A259. They are our largely unspoiled heritage.

Xplore Living’s large proposed development in the Marina was turned down by the Planning Committee of Brighton & Hove City Council last December but they are appealing next month against that decision.

If the Appeal is upheld we will no longer see any of the beautiful cliffs as we look east and instead there will be densely packed concrete tower blocks coming up over the height of the cliffs. To prevent this please download our petition which you will find at www.savebrighton.com and which must be returned to the address given no later than the 4th October.

Help Save our Seafront both for our citizens and tourists.

Stella McCrickard 
Lewes Crescent

Letters: Recycling Heaven

REGENCY — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:56:28 +0000

I just wanted to write to express my irritation about the amount of negativity towards fly-tipping often expressed by your readers, by these people who have nothing better to get upset about than communal bins (lucky them!).
Let me inform these people that half the furniture in my house and my girlfriend’s house was obtained from other people’s fly-tipping – it’s called recycling, and for people on low incomes, of which there are many in Brighton, it’s often the only way to obtain furniture. Not only furniture but kitchen utensils and often electrical equipment too. Would these people rather we bought everything new – as if we could afford it – therefore using up yet more natural resources and creating more junk to be dumped? Would they rather all this went to landfill?

What to them may be an ‘unsightly’ bookcase in the street is to many people the only means of obtaining such an item. In any case, where I live at least, any item dumped next to a communal bin is gone within hours, such is the need for re-using items.

I urge these people in future to think before they write.

Simon Davies 
Oriental Place

Letters: The Secret (Sex) Life of Cyclists

REGENCY — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:27:46 +0000

I wonder if anyone could explain to me why Brighton & Hove City Council need to know my personal sexual preferences in order to decide on a Cycle Link Scheme along Madeira Drive?

It asked the usual questions of my postcode, disability and gender, but then went on to ask “Are you Heterosexual, Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Other (please state)?”.

Whatever can this possibly have to do with cycle lanes? My reply was that it is none of your business!

In any event the survey was mailed out too late to visit the exhibition of the scheme in the Town Hall, but in my opinion anything that keeps the fast moving cyclists off the pavement on Madeira Parade is most welcome regardless of my sexuality – or theirs.

Molly, Arundel Terrace