SIR – No doubt many of the liberal elite – pop stars, actors, council and government executives, and the upper echelon of the BBC – will already donate some of their vast earnings to charities.

It would be a noble gesture for the others to directly help a good cause ‘hands-on’, not just handing their money over to certain charities operating just as a business, their directors driving around in the latest Mercedes or Jaguar.

Those who find it hard to understand the discrepancies between their socialist opinions and their materialistic and monetary fortunes would find this of real benefit to ease their hypocrisy and conscience.

Michael Crosthwaite, Bond End, Knaresborough