Sir – Philip Pullman’s recent speech, critical of Oxfordshire County Council’s harsh plan for library closures, is echoed and advertised in the editorial comment of the New York Times (February 1), no less: “What he [Mr Pullman] registers so forcibly is the fact that a hidebound, conservative approach to deficit reduction creates a social austerity far more harmful than the deficit itself. ... referring to the leader of the Oxford[shire] County Council, ‘It’s not our job to cut services. It’s his job to protect them.”
Shame that Keith Mitchell’s international recognition is a note of censure. In contrast, rarely has the New York Times praised eloquence, brilliance, and the defence of civic decency in the manner in which it praises Mr Pullman’s speech.
Professor John Coleman, Oxford
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