Lord Lester

• I WAS pleased to read the tribute (Great legal advocate: Lord Lester, August 13) in John Gulliver’s column.

As director of Stonewall in 2002 I had the privilege of working with Lord Lester on the first private member’s bill on civil partnerships.

Few at the time thought this legally or politically possible, but it became the blueprint for the Civil Partnership Act 2004. In turn this laid the basis for the introduction of same-sex marriage.

Lord Lester was indeed a great advocate and many of us now enjoy the rights and freedoms for which he fought.

ANGELA MASON,
N6