The recent allegations of widespread corruption in the police, whether true or perceived, the increase in crimes of violence and the continuing evils in our society need a very drastic remedy.

Draconian solutions are not the answer and those countries who have them, such as the US, have more than their fair share of violence, murder and police corruption.

I am old enough to have met men and women whose lives were dramatically changed by the influence

of the Welsh Revival - a great religious movement which had a profound influence on society, particularly in Wales in the early days of the last century.

Such phenomena as law courts with no cases to try, the reconciliation of bitter and avowed enemies, a dramatic decline in cases of drunkenness and the general "sweetening of society" really happened and were well documented.

Our present-day NHS could also be said to have been born in the Welsh Revival. One of its effects in the Welsh valleys was to give the mining communities a real love and compassion for their fellow men and women. As a result, they formed local "health services" which gave Nye Bevan, the father and founder of our present Health Service, the idea of a National Health Service, which, in spite of its faults and failings, leads the world in its field.

A true religious revival is not empty emotionalism but has a profound and lasting effect, not only on individuals but society as a whole.

-Reverend John Webster, Gleton Avenue, Hove