Polly Toynbee's assertion that the coalition government has absolute power in both chambers of parliament (Comment, 20 July) suggests she has not paid proper attention to the progress of the academies bill through the Lords. Through three days in committee, it was significantly amended. Much of this was through the usual process of debate followed by negotiation, ending in the government introducing changes to meet criticisms made – on rules covering the inclusion and exclusion of pupils, on the role of local authorities, on the impact of new schools on the overall provision of education in towns and cities. One amendment was carried against the government: on provision for pupils with special educational needs.
It suits the Labour narrative of a government "which no one chose" to pretend that this "illegitimate" government now commands total control of both houses. For the record, the government has so far won four votes in the Lords since May, and lost three. Active crossbenchers, and backbench peers in both coalition parties who demand to be persuaded that their frontbenches can justify their proposals, keep ministers and whips on their toes. The idea that the Lords is now a puppet of a dominant government is as absurd as the idea that Ed Balls is a defender of parliamentary sovereignty against an overmighty government.
Lib Dem, House of Lords
• The academies bill being rushed through parliament will do more than create a divide between schools. It will create a strong and powerful lobby which, having taken advantage of the publicly funded "private" schools, will be opposed to any return to a national school system. Decades of working to create a public system, where all are equally valued, and taught, will be discarded in four or five years.
Nigel Corlett
Nottingham