Sir — Robin Gill had a bit of a rant (Letters, July 28) about Margaret Thatcher, but this lady solved the “British disease” during her tenure as Prime Minister and we would all do well to remember that.

Perhaps our University might reconsider that Honorary Doctorate while she is around to receive it?

I am not sure Mr Gill has made the connections to understand how the county council was the catalyst that promoted joint ticketing with the two major bus companies. It started with my determination to do something to improve Oxford city centre and, particularly, Queen Street which had become a huge bus park.

We had to take on the usual vested interests and political opposition in Oxford and we had to persuade the bus companies that we meant business here.

No one would deny the huge improvement we have made in Queen Street today.

What may be less obvious is the process that started with asking “why are there too many empty buses chasing for business around Queen Street and beyond?” that led on to “how can we rationalise this?”

The obvious answer was to impress on the bus companies the importance of co-operation on joint ticketing and of having less buses, but the same or more passenger journeys.

We had the mechanism for doing this through a quality bus partnership — one of the first in the country.

The bus companies were not slow in seeing the advantage of paying for fewer buses and their drivers, but maintaining their revenue streams.

This was always going to be a win-win for passengers and operators and the city’s environment.

The fleet of low-emission buses that the two companies have now bought is icing on the cake for local residents and our environment.

All it took, Mr Gill, was some political leadership and courage when our usual opponents and detractors said the Queen Street re-shaping would never work.

It is not rocket science, Mr Gill; it is simple bus and economic science and it is working.

Keith R Mitchell, Leader of the council, County Hall, Oxford