Letter: Lost opportunity to create minister for women head across three

I was surprised and disappoint- ed to hear that a historic opportunity to create Britain's first minister for women had been lost in the "fight against red tape".

Our organisation, along with other women's groups, had welcomed the efforts and time given to women's priorities by the Labour Party in recent years. We were under the impression that the work carried out by Clare Short, Tessa Jowell and Janet Anderson would translate into an effective department monitoring legislation and its gender impact (known as mainstreaming). Surely New Labour would wish to honour the agreement made by the Conservative government to implement the Global Platform for Action, of which mainstreaming is an essential part?

Iris Shanahan

Townswomen's Guilds

Birmingham