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Chris Duke thinks I'm naive to suggest that it is the duty of academia to laugh at government while still taking its money ("Impact joke is on us", Letters, 28 April).

But I did not say that we should laugh at every government idea - just the risible ones. And for those, laughter should, of course, be accompanied by a reasoned demonstration of their risibility.

For such a service to society, we have every right to take government money. When ministers start paying us only to do their bidding, the game really is up. If that belief is naive, so be it.

John Foster, Cumbria