Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer is as much to blame as anyone for the fact that two public libraries in the borough face closure.

Mr Freer could have had some influence with the Conservative group on the council – he used to lead it, after all – but he has done nothing at all to try to persuade them that libraries matter. In Parliament, he voted for the massive 25 per cent cut in local government spending, which triggered the cuts. He even vote against a Labour motion that called for the protection of frontline services. Now he claims to oppose closures. I fear this stance will last until the General Election and no longer.

Mike Walsh

Lyndhurst Gardens, Finchley