TRUST the Lib Dems to be the only ones not to support the western conveyance channel which could make Oxford flood-free (February 12).

At the city council meeting, on February 3, the Lib Dems were the only ones not to back the channel. Everyone else – Tories on the county council, Labour on the city council, and even the Green Party – are fighting tooth and nail to make it happen. Of course improving flood defences, planting trees upstream, widening channels at Redbridge and Sandford, and dredging rivers and ditches, will all help. But the western conveyance, as recommended by the Environment Agency experts, will increase river capacity safely and make the big difference for Oxford.

The climate has changed and this kind of persistent torrential rain is happening, not once in 50 years, but once or twice every couple of years it seems. It is not acceptable to have homes flood, people drown, and roads and the railway in and out of Oxford regularly closed.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, says money is no object but we shall see. We need that western conveyance channel now. Even at this late stage, we hope the Lib Dems will come off the fence and support it.

SALLY COPLEY Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon Vicarage Road, Oxford Cllr JOHN TANNER (Labour) Board Member for a Cleaner, Greener Oxford city councillor for Littlemore and county councillor for Isis Sunningwell Road Oxford