ANNELIESE Dodds in her Westminster Views on the Oxford Mail letters page (Wednesday, March 4) seems to suggest that we have come far in terms of gender equality since Wilson's Equal Pay Act 50 years ago, in seeming contradiction of her Westminster Views column entitled A Long Way to Go to Achieve Gender Equality.

She should have said her party in all that time could have done considerably more to assist people in Britain with severe health problems regardless of gender.

For example, Labour could have spent the £28 billion that was miraculously found for having military in Iraq for years on converting buildings for disabled access.

When Ed Miliband was leader of her party he was honest enough to admit there is nothing to suggest Blair considered for a single moment the strain on housing in already tense, overcrowded cities; on NHS, on prison service and police of mass immigration.

Across the page from her column, implying one gender is always disproportionately disadvantaged, is a recollection of a strike in January 1979 when all hospital patients were inconvenienced by a National Union of Public Employees dispute. I seem to recall Labour been in government for a while at that point.

ROB ECCLES

Littlegate Street

Oxford

Last week Oxford’s anti-free speech and intolerant students successfully “no-platformed” Amber Rudd, the former Home Secretary, who was invited to the event called 'In Conversation: Amber Rudd,’ organised by UN Women Oxford and was due to take place at 7.30pm on Thursday as part of their UN Women’s 2020 Trailblazer Series.

The menace of Oxford’s anti-free speech and no-platforming students and others, will only be defeated when Oxford’s academics supported by Oxford’s Free Speech defending students boldly defend Oxford’s tradition for free critical speech and debate.

Oxford University said it was 'strongly committed' to freedom of speech and opposed no-platforming, adding: "We encourage our students to debate and engage with a range of views, and to treat others with the courtesy and dignity that they would expect themselves. (OM 8/03)

Chaka Artwell

Barton

THE Government has just given £580k to the County for bus subsidies – but the County’s plan does not include anything for City buses.

The County needs to consider this one small request:

I am asking for just one of the 2/2A/2B/2C/2D bus routes (covering 5 areas of Kidlington) to be minimally changed so that, once an hour, a No 2 can travel from the Banbury Road into Harefields and back along Templar Road to the Banbury Road, the route being reversed on the return journey. Assuming 3 stops, this loop would take less than 10 minutes and would be a lifeline for so many residents living east of the Banbury Road, who have been locked into their area since the removal of the No 17 bus. I have met people obliged to pay for taxis they can ill-afford to get them to the JR because they can’t manage the walk from Kendall Crescent to the Banbury Road.

We still have a smart new bus stop at Kendall Crescent, which is crying out to be used again!

LIZ WADE

Lib Dem City Councillor for Wolvercote Ward

YOU published a photograph of senior officials of the Oxfordshire firm, Amey, at a meeting (Oxford Mail, Memory Lane, January 13).

I joined the Amey Group in 1968 and 13 years later, I was based at Stanton Harcourt as Premix general manager.

Peggy Minchin, who was in the picture, was my secretary, shared with the area director. I think she retired in 1984/85 as did her husband.

I have a number of company brochures and reports and I believe the personalities, from left to right, are: Ken Farmer, Brian Madden, ? , Peggy Minchin, ? , Gordon Plummer and Wally Baker.

STEPHEN PELL

By email